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?

Black vs. white

Loud vs. quiet

Large vs. small

Still vs. moving
2 What is the first body part of the blackbird we see?

beak

shadow

eye

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

To three different men looking at a blackbird

To three blackbirds in flight

To a tree containing three blackbirds

To three different snowy nights
4 Other than the three minds and three blackbirds of section II, what is another trinity (union of three things) in the poem?

The carriage, window, and snow

The man, woman, and blackbird

The three men of Haddam

The blackbird, snow, and mountain
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand

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

Singing to the poet

Tracing its shadow

Sitting amid the snow
7 Which of the following is NOT an image that helps create the mood of terror in section VI?

the shadow

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

the raging wind

the icicles on the glass
8 How are the "thin men of Haddam" wasting their time?

By writing poems about blackbirds

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

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 involved in what he knows

That the blackbird is an omen of death

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

The edge of the town of Haddam

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge between afternoon and evening

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 man who perceives himself as superior

A down-to-earth man of nature

An attentive and wise reader

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

The ice on his window

The shadow of his equipment

Three blackbirds in a tree

The darkening sky of evening
14 Why does the speaker assume "The blackbird must be flying?"

The river is moving.

The mountains are empty.

The day is ending.

The wind is blowing.
15 What time of day is it when the poem ends?

A dark afternoon

A snowy dawn

A busy midday in town

Midnight
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?

Flying out of our line of sight

Flying alongside a train

Sitting in the branches of a tree

Walking around the speaker's feet
17 Which season is evoked most often by the imagery in the poem?

spring

winter

autumn

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

The viewer's point of view

The key to understanding nature

The poet's linguistic craft

The viewer's internal prejudices
19 What type of sentence does Stevens use in the section about the men of Haddam, that he uses nowhere else in the poem?

Questions

Run-ons

Fragments

Commands
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

The eye of the blackbird

Tree limbs

A shadow

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

fear vs. tranquility

unknown vs. known

motion vs. stillness

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

Taste

Hearing

Smell

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

Hostility

The lack of viable material to write poems about

Uncertainty and ambiguity

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

aphorisms

contradicting viewpoints

sensations

explanations
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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