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

Verbal irony

Metaphor

Personification
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Imagined

Dreaded

Threatened

Predicted
3 Who is the speaker?
The grandmother

The almanac

An omniscient third person

The grandchild
4 What kind of stanzas are in this poem?
Quatrains

Sestets

Tercets

Sestets and a tercet
5 The word "birdlike" is an instance of what?
Metaphor

Understatement

Hyperbole

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

Care

Adventure

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

November

December

October
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word

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

It contains two repeated, alternating refrains, which appear at the close of every stanza

It contains repeated concluding words in every line, which shift order from one stanza to the next
9 Which best describes the two characters' dynamic?
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

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

They are both haunted by the same event, but do no openly discuss that event
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
grandmother

kettle

stove

tears
11 What is an almanac?
A type of reference book containing information such as calendars

A joke book

A family photo album

A journal used for recording household expenditures
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Rude

Inflexible

Ironic

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

Milk

The ocean

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

It is unrhymed

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC EFFE
15 What does the word "inscrutable" mean?
Mysterious

Hard

Funny

Painful
16 What does the child draw?
The moon

A house

A stove

Herself
17 When was this poem first published?
1956

1953

1928

1979
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
An envoi

A volta

An aubade

A strophe
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 media company

A sect of Christianity

A brand of kitchenware

An adjective meaning "amazing"
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
7

5

6

16
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"sings on the stove"

"September rain falls"

"the old grandmother"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
Harpers

The New Yorker

None—it first appeared in book form

The Paris Review
24 What has traumatized the characters in this poem?
The death of the child's mother

A war

A house fire

The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed
25 What is an equinox?
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

The hottest night of the year

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