33 pages 1 hour read

Pablo Neruda

A Dog Has Died

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1999

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Reading Comprehension Questions

1. What can the reader infer about the speaker of the poem?

A) They lament the loss of their dog.

B) They believe their dog will go to heaven.

C) They envy their dog’s happiness.

D) all of the above

2. What is the poem’s tone?

A) elegiac and commemorative

B) judgmental and angry

C) peaceful and content

D) anxious and discontented

3. In Stanza 5, the speaker recounts an emotional memory of their dog. Where does this memory take place?

A) in the forests of Chile

B) on the streets of the speaker’s village

C) on the shores of the sea on Isla Negra

D) in the foothills of the Andes

4. What claim is put forward near the end of the poem?

A) Dogs live on in our memories and never truly leave us.

B) No other creature can replace a first dog.

C) Dogs do not go to heaven and neither do humans.

D) Only dogs understand and can experience true joy.