Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Quizzes

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Quiz

1 Which of the following is NOT a contrast present in the first stanza?

Loud vs. quiet

Large vs. small

Still vs. moving

Black vs. white
2 What is the first body part of the blackbird we see?

wing

beak

eye

shadow
3 To what does the speaker compare his state of being "of three minds?"

To three blackbirds in flight

To a tree containing three blackbirds

To three different snowy nights

To three different men looking at a blackbird
4 Other than the three minds and three blackbirds of section II, what is another trinity (union of three things) in the poem?

The three men of Haddam

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

The man, woman, and blackbird

The carriage, window, and snow
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

Neither, because the speaker does not know which to prefer

Neither, because the blackbird is neither beautiful nor interesting
6 What is the blackbird doing when it is only "a small part of the pantomime?"

Flying in the wind

Tracing its shadow

Sitting amid the snow

Singing to the poet
7 Which of the following is NOT an image that helps create the mood of terror in section VI?

the shadow

the icicles on the glass

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

the raging wind
8 How are the "thin men of Haddam" wasting their time?

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By writing poems about blackbirds

By writing love songs to the women

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist
9 Other than "noble accents / And lucid, inescapable rhythms," what does the speaker claim to know?

That the blackbird's song is more beautiful than his poetry will ever be

That the blackbird is an omen of death

That the blackbird is involved in what he knows

That the blackbird is a messenger of Heaven
10 What might the "edge / Of one of many circles" represent?

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge of the town of Haddam

The edge between what we can see and not see
11 Who are the bawds of euphony?

Women who have beautiful singing voices

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam

People who write blackbirds into epic poems
12 How might we describe the man in the glass coach, based on the tone of the poem's imagery?

A down-to-earth man of nature

A man who perceives himself as superior

An attentive and wise reader

A great poet
13 What does the man in the coach actually see when he gets frightened?

The shadow of his equipment

The darkening sky of evening

Three blackbirds in a tree

The ice on his window
14 Why does the speaker assume "The blackbird must be flying?"

The river is moving.

The wind is blowing.

The day is ending.

The mountains are empty.
15 What time of day is it when the poem ends?

A dark afternoon

A snowy dawn

Midnight

A busy midday in town
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?

Flying out of our line of sight

Walking around the speaker's feet

Flying alongside a train

Sitting in the branches of a tree
17 Which season is evoked most often by the imagery in the poem?

summer

spring

autumn

winter
18 What do glass windows most likely represent in the poem?

The viewer's internal prejudices

The poet's linguistic craft

The viewer's point of view

The key to understanding nature
19 What type of sentence does Stevens use in the section about the men of Haddam, that he uses nowhere else in the poem?

Run-ons

Questions

Commands

Fragments
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

The eye of the blackbird

A shadow

Tree limbs

Other men
21 Which of the following best describes the difference between the blackbird's presence in section I and section XIII?

motion vs. stillness

unknown vs. known

fear vs. tranquility

visible vs. invisible
22 Other than sight, what sense is used most often to describe the blackbird?

Hearing

Taste

Smell

Touch
23 What does the poem suggest is something about interpretation of nature that we should be willing to accept?

Uncertainty and ambiguity

The lack of viable material to write poems about

Tragedy

Hostility
24 Stevens said that this sequence of stanzas is meant to be a collection of ________.

contradicting viewpoints

sensations

explanations

aphorisms
25 What does the poem suggest is the difference between finding the blackbird beautiful and finding it terrifying?

Our mental perspective

Our geographic location

The time of year

What the blackbird is doing

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Study Guide for Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird study guide contains a biography of Wallace Stevens, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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