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?

Still vs. moving

Loud vs. quiet

Large vs. small

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

wing

eye

beak

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

To three blackbirds in flight

To three different snowy nights

To a tree containing three blackbirds

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 carriage, window, and snow

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

The man, woman, and blackbird

The three men of Haddam
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?

Neither, because the speaker does not know which to prefer

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand

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?"

Singing to the poet

Flying in the wind

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 back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

the shadow

the icicles on the glass

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

By writing love songs to the women

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist

By writing poems about blackbirds
9 Other than "noble accents / And lucid, inescapable rhythms," what does the speaker claim to know?

That the blackbird is an omen of death

That the blackbird is a messenger of Heaven

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

That the blackbird is involved in what he knows
10 What might the "edge / Of one of many circles" represent?

The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge of the town of Haddam

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

People who write blackbirds into epic poems

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial

Women who have beautiful singing voices
12 How might we describe the man in the glass coach, based on the tone of the poem's imagery?

An attentive and wise reader

A great poet

A down-to-earth man of nature

A man who perceives himself as superior
13 What does the man in the coach actually see when he gets frightened?

Three blackbirds in a tree

The shadow of his equipment

The ice on his window

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

The day is ending.

The wind is blowing.

The river is moving.

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

Midnight

A busy midday in town

A snowy dawn

A dark afternoon
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?

Flying alongside a train

Sitting in the branches of a tree

Walking around the speaker's feet

Flying out of our line of sight
17 Which season is evoked most often by the imagery in the poem?

winter

summer

autumn

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

The viewer's point of view

The poet's linguistic craft

The viewer's internal prejudices

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?

Commands

Questions

Run-ons

Fragments
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

Other men

Tree limbs

The eye of the blackbird

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

fear vs. tranquility

visible vs. invisible

unknown vs. known

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

Hearing

Smell

Touch

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

Tragedy

Uncertainty and ambiguity

The lack of viable material to write poems about

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

explanations

sensations

contradicting viewpoints

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

What the blackbird is doing

The time of year

Our geographic location

Our mental perspective

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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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