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 knew she would win prizes for this poem.

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

Glück chose from a thousand ideas she had, and set out to write from the perspectives of plants.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?
2000

1992

1993

2002
3 What is at the end of the iris's suffering?
Nothing

A key

A door

Light
4 What does the iris claim to remember?
An old lover

That which humans call "death"

The duality between mind and body

The course of its life
5 What meter is this poem written in?
Rhymed

Sonnet

Blank

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

Nothing

Death

Light
7 Who is the speaker?
Glück

The Gardener-Poet

The Wild Iris

God
8 What perspective is the poem written in?
First and second

Second

Third

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

Cycles

Transformation

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 two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The human fear of change, endings, and death

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?
Its life

The ability to create

Its career as a writer

The human fear of being a soul and unable to speak; death
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?
Everyone relies on self-expression to survive; "being / a soul and unable / to speak" is a common fear

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
13 Which detail connects to the designation of the iris as "wild"?
The seawater

The weak sun

The low shrubs

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

A Gugenheim

A Pulitzer

Robert Frost Medal
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?
To rhyme with "smoke"

To rhyme with "click"

Glack

Glook
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

Figurative Language

Poetic personnae

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

None

Nobel Prize in Literature

A Guggenheim
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?
Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

Depressing, austere, contemptul
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?
They embellish the speaker's joy

There is no relevance to the first lines

They frame the purpose and focus of the collection

They foreshadow the speaker's suffering
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?
One is changed

One dies

One can no longer communicate

One finds a voice
22 What does the door represent in the poem?
A regular doorway

Something that God will close

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

A human construct
23 What does the iris say is terrible?
To go through the door at the end of suffering

To suffer

To see the birds darting in low shrubs

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth
24 Which is an example of alliteration?
"from the center of my life came"

"You who do not remember"

"a soul and unable / to speak"

"At the end of my suffering"
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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