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?
Simile

Verbal irony

Metaphor

Personification
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Predicted

Imagined

Dreaded

Threatened
3 Who is the speaker?
An omniscient third person

The grandchild

The grandmother

The almanac
4 What kind of stanzas are in this poem?
Tercets

Sestets and a tercet

Sestets

Quatrains
5 The word "birdlike" is an instance of what?
Understatement

Hyperbole

Metaphor

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

Repression

Care

Trauma
7 In what month does the poem take place?
November

December

September

October
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word

It builds up to a volta, or turn, which takes place after either the eighth or twelfth line

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

It contains two repeated, alternating refrains, which appear at the close of every stanza
9 Which best describes the two characters' dynamic?
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

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
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
grandmother

tears

stove

kettle
11 What is an almanac?
A type of reference book containing information such as calendars

A family photo album

A journal used for recording household expenditures

A joke book
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Inflexible

Ironic

Rude

Sturdy
13 To what does Bishop compare the tea in the grandmother's cup?
The ocean

Milk

Blood

Tears
14 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBCDD EFFGEE

It is unrhymed

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC EFFE
15 What does the word "inscrutable" mean?
Hard

Mysterious

Painful

Funny
16 What does the child draw?
Herself

The moon

A house

A stove
17 When was this poem first published?
1928

1979

1956

1953
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
An envoi

A volta

An aubade

A strophe
19 Where is the poem set?
New Orleans

The English countryside

Boston

Its setting is unstated
20 What does "Marvel" refer to in this poem?
A sect of Christianity

A brand of kitchenware

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A media company
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
5

16

6

7
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"September rain falls"

"sings on the stove"

"the old grandmother"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
None—it first appeared in book form

The New Yorker

The Paris Review

Harpers
24 What has traumatized the characters in this poem?
A war

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

A house fire

The death of the child's mother
25 What is an equinox?
The longest day of the year

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

The hottest night of the year

A night on which an eclipse happens

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