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

Writing this poem helped Glück reclaim her faith.

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?
1993

1992

2000

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

A door

Nothing

A key
4 What does the iris claim to remember?
That which humans call "death"

The course of its life

An old lover

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

Rhymed

Blank

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

Light

Nothing

Joy
7 Who is the speaker?
God

The Gardener-Poet

Glück

The Wild Iris
8 What perspective is the poem written in?
First

First and second

Second

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

Cycles

Hell

Transformation
10 Which of the following does not metaphorically resonate with the iris's experience as described in the poem?
The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The human fear of change, endings, and death

The life cycle of plants
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?
The ability to create

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

Its life

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

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

Everyone likes the iris flower
13 Which detail connects to the designation of the iris as "wild"?
The low shrubs

The weak sun

The birds

The seawater
14 Which award did this collection go on to receive?
The Nobel Prize

A Pulitzer

Robert Frost Medal

A Gugenheim
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?
Glack

To rhyme with "smoke"

Glook

To rhyme with "click"
16 What defining event changed the course of Glück's life and writing when she was young?
A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young

Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

The death of her mother
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?
Metaphor

Her creative use of form

Poetic personnae

Figurative Language
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?
A Guggenheim

None

Nobel Prize in Literature

Pulitzer Prize
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?
Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Depressing, austere, contemptul

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

There is no relevance to the first lines

They frame the purpose and focus of the collection

They embellish the speaker's joy
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?
One finds a voice

One can no longer communicate

One dies

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

A human construct

Something that God will close

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation
23 What does the iris say is terrible?
To see the birds darting in low shrubs

To suffer

To go through the door at the end of suffering

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth
24 Which is an example of alliteration?
"a soul and unable / to speak"

"You who do not remember"

"from the center of my life came"

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

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

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

birds darting in low shrubs.

Wild Iris Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Wild Iris is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Wild Iris

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

Read the Study Guide for Wild Iris…