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

Black vs. white

Loud vs. quiet

Large vs. small
2 What is the first body part of the blackbird we see?

wing

beak

shadow

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

To three blackbirds in flight

To three different men looking at a blackbird

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 three men of Haddam

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

The carriage, window, and snow

The man, woman, and blackbird
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

Neither, because the blackbird is neither beautiful nor interesting

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand

Neither, because the speaker does not know which to prefer
6 What is the blackbird doing when it is only "a small part of the pantomime?"

Singing to the poet

Flying in the wind

Sitting amid the snow

Tracing its shadow
7 Which of the following is NOT an image that helps create the mood of terror in section VI?

the raging wind

the icicles on the glass

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

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

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By writing love songs to the women

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 involved in what he knows

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

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 of the town of Haddam

The edge between afternoon and evening

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?

A great poet

An attentive and wise reader

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?

The darkening sky of evening

The shadow of his equipment

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 mountains are empty.

The day is ending.

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

A busy midday in town

A dark afternoon

Midnight

A snowy dawn
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?

Walking around the speaker's feet

Flying alongside a train

Sitting in the branches of a tree

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

summer

autumn

winter

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

The key to understanding nature

The poet's linguistic craft

The viewer's point of view

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?

Commands

Questions

Run-ons

Fragments
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

Tree limbs

A shadow

Other men

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

visible vs. invisible

fear vs. tranquility

motion vs. stillness

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

Touch

Taste

Hearing

Smell
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

Hostility

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

sensations

contradicting viewpoints

explanations

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

Our geographic location

The time of year

Our mental perspective

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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