Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 The phrase "her teacup full of dark brown tears" is an example of which of the following?
Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Verbal irony
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Threatened

Predicted

Imagined

Dreaded
3 Who is the speaker?
An omniscient third person

The grandchild

The grandmother

The almanac
4 What kind of stanzas are in this poem?
Sestets and a tercet

Quatrains

Sestets

Tercets
5 The word "birdlike" is an instance of what?
Simile

Metaphor

Understatement

Hyperbole
6 Which is NOT a major theme of this poem?
Trauma

Adventure

Care

Repression
7 In what month does the poem take place?
October

November

December

September
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
It contains two repeated, alternating refrains, which appear at the close of every stanza

It builds up to a volta, or turn, which takes place after either the eighth or twelfth line

It contains repeated concluding words in every line, which shift order from one stanza to the next

It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word
9 Which best describes the two characters' dynamic?
They are both haunted by the same event, but do no openly discuss that event

They are hostile with one another, blaming each other for their shared past

They are haunted by a recent tragedy, but discuss that event at length to comfort each other

They are blissfully happy, as-yet unaware of the tragedy in their family
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
kettle

tears

grandmother

stove
11 What is an almanac?
A joke book

A journal used for recording household expenditures

A type of reference book containing information such as calendars

A family photo album
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Ironic

Inflexible

Rude

Sturdy
13 To what does Bishop compare the tea in the grandmother's cup?
The ocean

Milk

Blood

Tears
14 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBCDD EFFGEE

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC EFFE

It is unrhymed
15 What does the word "inscrutable" mean?
Mysterious

Painful

Hard

Funny
16 What does the child draw?
Herself

A house

The moon

A stove
17 When was this poem first published?
1928

1979

1953

1956
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
An envoi

A strophe

A volta

An aubade
19 Where is the poem set?
Boston

New Orleans

Its setting is unstated

The English countryside
20 What does "Marvel" refer to in this poem?
A brand of kitchenware

A media company

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A sect of Christianity
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
16

5

6

7
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"the old grandmother"

"sings on the stove"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."

"September rain falls"
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
None—it first appeared in book form

The New Yorker

Harpers

The Paris Review
24 What has traumatized the characters in this poem?
The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed

A house fire

A war

The death of the child's mother
25 What is an equinox?
The hottest night of the year

A date on which the night and the day are of the same length

The longest day of the year

A night on which an eclipse happens

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