Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 The phrase "her teacup full of dark brown tears" is an example of which of the following?
Verbal irony

Simile

Metaphor

Personification
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Threatened

Imagined

Predicted

Dreaded
3 Who is the speaker?
The almanac

The grandmother

An omniscient third person

The grandchild
4 What kind of stanzas are in this poem?
Quatrains

Sestets

Tercets

Sestets and a tercet
5 The word "birdlike" is an instance of what?
Hyperbole

Understatement

Metaphor

Simile
6 Which is NOT a major theme of this poem?
Repression

Trauma

Adventure

Care
7 In what month does the poem take place?
October

November

December

September
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
It contains two repeated, alternating refrains, which appear at the close of every stanza

It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word

It contains repeated concluding words in every line, which shift order from one stanza to the next

It builds up to a volta, or turn, which takes place after either the eighth or twelfth line
9 Which best describes the two characters' dynamic?
They are both haunted by the same event, but do no openly discuss that event

They are blissfully happy, as-yet unaware of the tragedy in their family

They are haunted by a recent tragedy, but discuss that event at length to comfort each other

They are hostile with one another, blaming each other for their shared past
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
grandmother

stove

kettle

tears
11 What is an almanac?
A journal used for recording household expenditures

A joke book

A family photo album

A type of reference book containing information such as calendars
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Inflexible

Rude

Sturdy

Ironic
13 To what does Bishop compare the tea in the grandmother's cup?
Milk

Tears

The ocean

Blood
14 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBA CDDC EFFE

ABBCDD EFFGEE

ABABAB

It is unrhymed
15 What does the word "inscrutable" mean?
Hard

Painful

Funny

Mysterious
16 What does the child draw?
Herself

A house

The moon

A stove
17 When was this poem first published?
1956

1953

1928

1979
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
A strophe

An envoi

A volta

An aubade
19 Where is the poem set?
Its setting is unstated

New Orleans

The English countryside

Boston
20 What does "Marvel" refer to in this poem?
A sect of Christianity

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A brand of kitchenware

A media company
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
7

5

6

16
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"sings on the stove"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."

"the old grandmother"

"September rain falls"
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
The Paris Review

Harpers

The New Yorker

None—it first appeared in book form
24 What has traumatized the characters in this poem?
The death of the child's mother

A war

The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed

A house fire
25 What is an equinox?
The longest day of the year

The hottest night of the year

A night on which an eclipse happens

A date on which the night and the day are of the same length

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