Wild Iris Quizzes

Wild Iris Quiz "The Wild Iris" and Glück

1 What is most significant about the context in which this poem was written?

Writing this poem helped Glück reclaim her faith.

Glück chose from a thousand ideas she had, and set out to write from the perspectives of plants.

Writing this poem broke a two-year writing block for Glück.

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?

1992

1993

2000

2002
3 What is at the end of the iris's suffering?

Nothing

A key

Light

A door
4 What does the iris claim to remember?

An old lover

That which humans call "death"

The course of its life

The duality between mind and body
5 What meter is this poem written in?

Free verse

Rhymed

Sonnet

Blank
6 Finish this quote: Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting. / Then ___"

Joy

Light

Nothing

Death
7 Who is the speaker?

The Gardener-Poet

The Wild Iris

God

Glück
8 What perspective is the poem written in?

First and second

Second

First

Third
9 Which is not a major theme in this poem?

Hell

Rebirth

Transformation

Cycles
10 Which of the following does not metaphorically resonate with the iris's experience as described in the poem?

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The life cycle of plants

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The human fear of change, endings, and death
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?

The ability to create

Its life

The human fear of being a soul and unable to speak; death

Its career as a writer
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?

Everyone likes the iris flower

There is "a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater" coming from the center of all our lives

There is a metaphorical gardener in each one of us

Everyone relies on self-expression to survive; "being / a soul and unable / to speak" is a common fear
13 Which detail connects to the designation of the iris as "wild"?

The weak sun

The birds

The seawater

The low shrubs
14 Which award did this collection go on to receive?

The Nobel Prize

A Pulitzer

A Gugenheim

Robert Frost Medal
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?

Glack

To rhyme with "click"

Glook

To rhyme with "smoke"
16 What defining event changed the course of Glück's life and writing when she was young?

The death of her mother

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young

Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?

Poetic personnae

Figurative Language

Her creative use of form

Metaphor
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?

Nobel Prize in Literature

None

Pulitzer Prize

A Guggenheim
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?

They embellish the speaker's joy

They foreshadow the speaker's suffering

They frame the purpose and focus of the collection

There is no relevance to the first lines
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?

One dies

One can no longer communicate

One finds a voice

One is changed
22 What does the door represent in the poem?

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

Something that God will close

A human construct

A regular doorway
23 What does the iris say is terrible?

To suffer

To go through the door at the end of suffering

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth

To see the birds darting in low shrubs
24 Which is an example of alliteration?

"from the center of my life came"

"a soul and unable / to speak"

"You who do not remember"

"At the end of my suffering"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?

a soul

a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater.

birds darting in low shrubs.

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

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Wild Iris study guide contains a biography of Louise Gluck, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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