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

Still vs. moving

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

shadow

wing

beak

eye
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 blackbird, snow, and mountain

The man, woman, and blackbird

The three men of Haddam

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

Neither, because the blackbird is neither beautiful nor interesting

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

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 icicles on the glass

the raging wind

the shadow

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird
8 How are the "thin men of Haddam" wasting their time?

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist

By writing love songs to the women

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 involved in what he knows

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

The edge between what we can see and not see

The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge of the town of Haddam
11 Who are the bawds of euphony?

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial

People who write blackbirds into epic poems

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam

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 man who perceives himself as superior

A great poet

An attentive and wise reader

A down-to-earth man of nature
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 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?

Midnight

A dark afternoon

A snowy dawn

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

Flying out of our line of sight

Flying alongside a train

Walking around the speaker's feet

Sitting in the branches of a tree
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 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?

Questions

Run-ons

Commands

Fragments
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

The eye of the blackbird

Other men

Tree limbs

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

motion vs. stillness

visible vs. invisible

unknown vs. known

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

Touch

Hearing

Taste

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 ________.

aphorisms

contradicting viewpoints

sensations

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

Our geographic location

What the blackbird is doing

The time of year

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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