Robert Burns

Question 1

showy; ostentatious

Answer 1

tinsel

Question 2

persons of high rank or office

Answer 2

dignities

Question 3

John Steinbeck adopted this phrase for the title of his 1937 novella

Answer 3

o’ mice an’ men

Question 4

a nobleman, ranking above a count and below a duke

Answer 4

marquis

Question 5

to conceal; to shrud; to hide

Answer 5

obscure

Question 6

means “old times” or “days gone by”; a Scots poem set to the tune of a traditional folk song. Following “Happy Birthday,” it is the second most popular song in the world.

Answer 6

“Auld Lang Syne”

Question 7

archaic word for travel

Answer 7

fare

Question 8

often

Answer 8

aft

Question 9

Scottish word for go; proceed

Answer 9

gang

Question 10

apart

Answer 10

asunder

Question 11

four-line stanzas with alternating iambic tetrameter (lines 1 and 3) and iambic trimeter (lines 2 and 4), and with second and fourth lines rhyming: ABCB

Answer 11

ballad meter

Question 12

“And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught.”

Answer 12

And we will take a goodwill draught (of ale)

Question 13

bear the gree

Answer 13

take the prize

Question 14

deliberate exaggeration used for effect; usually accomplished through comparisons such as similes, metaphors, etc.

Answer 14

hyperbole

Question 15

“We twa hae run about the braes

And pu’d the gowans fine”

Answer 15

“We two have run about the hills

And pulled the fine daisies”

Question 16

His love is like a red rose that is newly sprung in June. His love is like a melody that is sweetly played in tune!

Answer 16

the similes the speaker uses in the first stanza.

Question 17

“Now green’s the sod, and cauld’s the clay

That wraps my …”

Answer 17

Highland Mary

Question 18

stealing an ear of corn

Answer 18

the mouse’s crime

Question 19

where the last bittersweet meeting between the two lovers takes place

Answer 19

near the castle o’ Montgomery in the summer

Question 20

the speaker traveling ten thousand miles to see her again

Answer 20

hyperbole

Question 21

“fell Death’s untimely frost,

That nipt my Flower sae early!”

Answer 21

figurative language in “Highland Mary”

Question 22

why he’s apologetic to the mouse

Answer 22

He has destroyed his home.

Question 23

usually sung in pubs and bars

Answer 23

“Auld Lang Syne”

Question 24

why the mouse is more fortunate than he

Answer 24

She only has to worry about her instinct and present situation

Question 25

how long will the speaker love his bonnie lass

Answer 25

“Till a’ the seas gang dry”; “And the rocks melt wi’ the sun.”

Question 26

who the speaker is probably addressing in the poem

Answer 26

an old childhood friend

Question 27

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot?”

Answer 27

We should not forget old friends!

Question 28

“A Man’s a Man for a’ That”

Answer 28

The poor man should not hang his head because he is poor. If he has character, dignity, honesty, goodness, and an independent mind, he is better than the ostentatious man of wealth and position.

Question 29

“While the sands o’ life shall run”

Answer 29

metaphor in “A Red, Red Rose”

Question 30

“bonnie”

Answer 30

Scottish word meaning “pretty, attractive”