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?

Large vs. small

Loud vs. quiet

Still vs. moving

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

wing

eye

shadow

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

To a tree containing three blackbirds

To three different men looking at a blackbird

To three different snowy nights

To three blackbirds in flight
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 carriage, window, and snow

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

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

Neither, because the speaker does not know which to prefer

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand
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 shadow

the raging wind

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

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

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist

By writing poems about blackbirds

By writing love songs to the women

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge
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 a messenger of Heaven

That the blackbird is involved in what he knows

That the blackbird is an omen of death
10 What might the "edge / Of one of many circles" represent?

The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge between what we can see and not see

The edge of the town of Haddam

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly
11 Who are the bawds of euphony?

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial

Women who have beautiful singing voices

People who write blackbirds into epic poems

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam
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

The ice on his window

Three blackbirds in a tree
14 Why does the speaker assume "The blackbird must be flying?"

The wind is blowing.

The river is moving.

The day is ending.

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

A busy midday in town

Midnight

A snowy dawn

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

Sitting in the branches of a tree

Flying alongside a train

Flying out of our line of sight

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

summer

winter

spring

autumn
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?

Commands

Fragments

Questions

Run-ons
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

Other men

A shadow

The eye of the blackbird

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

fear vs. tranquility

motion vs. stillness

unknown vs. known

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

Hearing

Smell

Taste

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

Hostility

Uncertainty and ambiguity

Tragedy

The lack of viable material to write poems about
24 Stevens said that this sequence of stanzas is meant to be a collection of ________.

aphorisms

sensations

contradicting viewpoints

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

The time of year

Our mental perspective

What the blackbird is doing

Our geographic location

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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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