Name _____________________________ Date ___________________
The Hangman
by Maurice Ogden
Multiple Choice
1. After the sixth man was hanged, what did the townspeople do?
A. They hid in their homes.
B. They grew silent.
C. They offered to help the Hangman.
D. They ran the Hangman out of town.
2. What did the Hangman tell the speaker about the people who had been hanged?
A. They had done nothing wrong.
B. They deserved to die.
C. They had been murdered.
D. They were better off dead.
3. What did the townspeople discover the morning after the first man was hanged?
A. The body was still hanging from the gallows-tree.
B. The Hangman was gone.
C. The courthouse square was empty.
D. The gallows-tree was still in the courthouse square.
4. Why does the hangman say he hanged the first man?
A. to stretch a new rope
B. to try the strength of the gallows-beam
C. to ease the trap
D. to test the strength of the rope
5. How does the speaker describe himself at the end of the poem?
A. very tired
B. very sad
C. very scared
D. very alone
6. Why did no one speak about the first hanging?
A. out of indifference about what had happened
B. out of ignorance of what had happened
C. out of fear of the Hangman
D. out of respect for the Hangman
7. Who is the second man that was hanged?
A. an infidel
B. someone who was a friend of the Jew
C. someone who speaks out against the first hanging
D. a black man
8. What smells surrounded the Hangman when came to the town?
A. blood and dust
B. gold and blood
C. freshly cut wood
D. wood and flame
9. The fourth man that was hanged was:
A. a black man
B. a thief
C. a foreigner
D. a usurer
10. The third man that was hanged was:
A. a foreigner
B. a usurer and an infidel
C. a thief
D. a black man
11. The first man hanged was:
A. a usurer
B. black
C. a foreigner
D. an infidel
12. For whom did the Hangman say he had built the gallows?
A. for the one who deserved to die
B. for the one who had murdered without cause
C. for the one who served him best
D. for the one who was quick to judge
13. What kind of eyes did the Hangman have?
A. eyes of cold stone
B. eyes that were bloodshot
C. eyes of fiery flames
D. eyes of buckshot lead
14. What was the Hangman doing when the speaker came through the silent town?
A. singing a song
B. taking down the gallows
C. smiling and whistling
D. watching the speaker in silence
Short Answer Questions:
15. Explain how the Hangman has not tricked the speaker in the poem.
16. Why does the Hangman answer the question "Hangman, who is he/For whom you raised the gallows-tree?" with a riddle?
17. How does the attitude of the townspeople towards the Hangman change after the second hanging?
18. Explain the "hope" that the speaker in the poem feels when he realizes that he is the only one remaining in the town?
19. Describe the attitude of the Hangman when he first arrived in the town.
20. Describe how the gallows changes the longer the Hangman remains in the town.
21. Explain how the speaker in the poem faithfully served the Hangman.
22. Explain the reaction of the townspeople when the first man was hanged.
Poetic Techniques Short Answer Questions:
23. Find an example of personification in the poem.
24. Find an example of enjambment in the poem.
25. Find an example of a simile in the poem. Explain the comparison that is being made.
26. Discuss what the gallows symbolizes.
27. Find an example of end rhyme in the poem.
28. Find an example of slant rhyme in the poem.
29. Find an example of a metaphor in the poem. Explain the comparison that is being made.
30. Find an example of exact rhyme in the poem.
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