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?
Metaphor

Simile

Personification

Verbal irony
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Imagined

Predicted

Threatened

Dreaded
3 Who is the speaker?
The grandchild

An omniscient third person

The almanac

The grandmother
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

Metaphor

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

Care

Trauma

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

December

September

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

They are both haunted by the same event, but do no openly discuss that event
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
stove

grandmother

kettle

tears
11 What is an almanac?
A family photo album

A journal used for recording household expenditures

A joke book

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

Inflexible

Rude

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

Tears

The ocean

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

ABABAB

ABBCDD EFFGEE

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

Painful

Funny

Mysterious
16 What does the child draw?
The moon

A house

A stove

Herself
17 When was this poem first published?
1956

1979

1928

1953
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
A volta

A strophe

An envoi

An aubade
19 Where is the poem set?
New Orleans

Boston

The English countryside

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

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A sect of Christianity

A media company
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
6

7

16

5
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"shows it proudly to the grandmother."

"September rain falls"

"the old grandmother"

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

None—it first appeared in book form

The New Yorker

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

The death of the child's mother

A war

The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed
25 What is an equinox?
A date on which the night and the day are of the same length

A night on which an eclipse happens

The longest day of the year

The hottest night of the year

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