Wild Iris Quizzes

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Wild Iris Quiz "The Wild Iris" and Glück

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

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

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.

Writing this poem helped Glück reclaim her faith.

Writing this poem broke a two-year writing block for Glück.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?

2002

2000

1992

1993
3 What is at the end of the iris's suffering?

Nothing

A door

Light

A key
4 What does the iris claim to remember?

The course of its life

An old lover

That which humans call "death"

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

Sonnet

Rhymed

Blank

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

Light

Joy

Nothing

Death
7 Who is the speaker?

God

The Wild Iris

The Gardener-Poet

Glück
8 What perspective is the poem written in?

Third

Second

First

First and second
9 Which is not a major theme in this poem?

Cycles

Transformation

Hell

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

The life cycle of plants

The human fear of change, endings, and death

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?

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

Its career as a writer

The ability to create

Its life
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?

There is a metaphorical gardener in each one of us

Everyone likes the iris flower

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

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 birds

The seawater

The weak sun

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

Robert Frost Medal

The Nobel Prize

A Gugenheim

A Pulitzer
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?

Glook

Glack

To rhyme with "click"

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

Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?

Metaphor

Figurative Language

Poetic personnae

Her creative use of form
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?

Pulitzer Prize

Nobel Prize in Literature

A Guggenheim

None
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?

They foreshadow the speaker's suffering

They embellish the speaker's joy

There is no relevance to the first lines

They frame the purpose and focus of the collection
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?

One can no longer communicate

One dies

One finds a voice

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

A human construct

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

A regular doorway

Something that God will close
23 What does the iris say is terrible?

To go through the door at the end of suffering

To see the birds darting in low shrubs

To suffer

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth
24 Which is an example of alliteration?

"At the end of my suffering"

"You who do not remember"

"from the center of my life came"

"a soul and unable / to speak"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

a soul

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

birds darting in low shrubs.

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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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