Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Quizzes

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Quiz

1 Which of the following is NOT a contrast present in the first stanza?

Loud vs. quiet

Black vs. white

Still vs. moving

Large vs. small
2 What is the first body part of the blackbird we see?

beak

eye

wing

shadow
3 To what does the speaker compare his state of being "of three minds?"

To a tree containing three blackbirds

To three different men looking at a blackbird

To three blackbirds in flight

To three different snowy nights
4 Other than the three minds and three blackbirds of section II, what is another trinity (union of three things) in the poem?

The man, woman, and blackbird

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

The three men of Haddam

The carriage, window, and snow
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?

Neither, because the speaker does not know which to prefer

Innuendoes, because the speaker appreciates what he cannot understand

Neither, because the blackbird is neither beautiful nor interesting

Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear
6 What is the blackbird doing when it is only "a small part of the pantomime?"

Flying in the wind

Tracing its shadow

Sitting amid the snow

Singing to the poet
7 Which of the following is NOT an image that helps create the mood of terror in section VI?

the icicles on the glass

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird

the raging wind

the shadow
8 How are the "thin men of Haddam" wasting their time?

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By writing love songs to the women

By writing poems about blackbirds
9 Other than "noble accents / And lucid, inescapable rhythms," what does the speaker claim to know?

That the blackbird is an omen of death

That the blackbird is involved in what he knows

That the blackbird is a messenger of Heaven

That the blackbird's song is more beautiful than his poetry will ever be
10 What might the "edge / Of one of many circles" represent?

The edge of the town of Haddam

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge between what we can see and not see
11 Who are the bawds of euphony?

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial

Women who have beautiful singing voices

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam

People who write blackbirds into epic poems
12 How might we describe the man in the glass coach, based on the tone of the poem's imagery?

A down-to-earth man of nature

A man who perceives himself as superior

A great poet

An attentive and wise reader
13 What does the man in the coach actually see when he gets frightened?

The shadow of his equipment

The darkening sky of evening

The ice on his window

Three blackbirds in a tree
14 Why does the speaker assume "The blackbird must be flying?"

The mountains are empty.

The day is ending.

The wind is blowing.

The river is moving.
15 What time of day is it when the poem ends?

A busy midday in town

A snowy dawn

A dark afternoon

Midnight
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?

Flying out of our line of sight

Sitting in the branches of a tree

Flying alongside a train

Walking around the speaker's feet
17 Which season is evoked most often by the imagery in the poem?

autumn

winter

spring

summer
18 What do glass windows most likely represent in the poem?

The key to understanding nature

The viewer's point of view

The viewer's internal prejudices

The poet's linguistic craft
19 What type of sentence does Stevens use in the section about the men of Haddam, that he uses nowhere else in the poem?

Commands

Questions

Fragments

Run-ons
20 Which image is most often associated with fright?

Other men

A shadow

Tree limbs

The eye of the blackbird
21 Which of the following best describes the difference between the blackbird's presence in section I and section XIII?

unknown vs. known

fear vs. tranquility

visible vs. invisible

motion vs. stillness
22 Other than sight, what sense is used most often to describe the blackbird?

Hearing

Smell

Touch

Taste
23 What does the poem suggest is something about interpretation of nature that we should be willing to accept?

Uncertainty and ambiguity

The lack of viable material to write poems about

Tragedy

Hostility
24 Stevens said that this sequence of stanzas is meant to be a collection of ________.

explanations

contradicting viewpoints

sensations

aphorisms
25 What does the poem suggest is the difference between finding the blackbird beautiful and finding it terrifying?

Our geographic location

The time of year

Our mental perspective

What the blackbird is doing

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Study Guide for Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird study guide contains a biography of Wallace Stevens, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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