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?
Threatened

Dreaded

Predicted

Imagined
3 Who is the speaker?
The grandmother

The grandchild

An omniscient third person

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

Sestets and a tercet

Tercets

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

Simile

Hyperbole

Metaphor
6 Which is NOT a major theme of this poem?
Trauma

Adventure

Repression

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

December

September

October
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
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

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

It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word
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 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 blissfully happy, as-yet unaware of the tragedy in their family
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
stove

tears

grandmother

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

A type of reference book containing information such as calendars

A joke book

A family photo album
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Inflexible

Ironic

Sturdy

Rude
13 To what does Bishop compare the tea in the grandmother's cup?
Tears

The ocean

Milk

Blood
14 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
It is unrhymed

ABBCDD EFFGEE

ABABAB

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

Painful

Hard

Funny
16 What does the child draw?
A stove

A house

Herself

The moon
17 When was this poem first published?
1956

1928

1953

1979
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
An aubade

A volta

An envoi

A strophe
19 Where is the poem set?
Boston

Its setting is unstated

New Orleans

The English countryside
20 What does "Marvel" refer to in this poem?
A media company

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A brand of kitchenware

A sect of Christianity
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
5

6

16

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

"the old grandmother"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."

"sings on the stove"
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
The Paris Review

The New Yorker

Harpers

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

A house fire

A war

The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed
25 What is an equinox?
A night on which an eclipse happens

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

The hottest night of the year

The longest day of the year

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