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?
Large vs. small

Loud vs. quiet

Still vs. moving

Black vs. white
2 What is the first body part of the blackbird we see?
beak

shadow

wing

eye
3 To what does the speaker compare his state of being "of three minds?"
To a tree containing three blackbirds

To three blackbirds in flight

To three different men looking at a blackbird

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 three men of Haddam

The carriage, window, and snow

The blackbird, snow, and mountain

The man, woman, and blackbird
5 Which is more beautiful, inflections or innuendoes?
Inflections, because the birdsong is euphonious to the ear

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
6 What is the blackbird doing when it is only "a small part of the pantomime?"
Tracing its shadow

Sitting amid the snow

Singing to the poet

Flying in the wind
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 shadow

the raging wind

the back-and-forth motion of the blackbird
8 How are the "thin men of Haddam" wasting their time?
By writing love songs to the women

By imagining idealized birds that don't exist

By worrying too much about their lack of knowledge

By writing poems about blackbirds
9 Other than "noble accents / And lucid, inescapable rhythms," what does the speaker claim to know?
That the blackbird's song is more beautiful than his poetry will ever be

That the blackbird is a messenger of Heaven

That the blackbird is involved in what he knows

That the blackbird is an omen of death
10 What might the "edge / Of one of many circles" represent?
The edge between afternoon and evening

The edge between what we can see and not see

The edge between what is beautiful and ugly

The edge of the town of Haddam
11 Who are the bawds of euphony?
People who write blackbirds into epic poems

Women who are ignored by the men of Haddam

Women who have beautiful singing voices

People who like poetry that is pretty but superficial
12 How might we describe the man in the glass coach, based on the tone of the poem's imagery?
A man who perceives himself as superior

A great poet

A down-to-earth man of nature

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

The darkening sky of evening

The ice on his window

The shadow of his equipment
14 Why does the speaker assume "The blackbird must be flying?"
The day is ending.

The river is moving.

The wind is blowing.

The mountains are empty.
15 What time of day is it when the poem ends?
A snowy dawn

A dark afternoon

A busy midday in town

Midnight
16 Where is the last place we see the blackbird?
Flying out of our line of sight

Walking around the speaker's feet

Sitting in the branches of a tree

Flying alongside a train
17 Which season is evoked most often by the imagery in the poem?
spring

summer

autumn

winter
18 What do glass windows most likely represent in the poem?
The viewer's internal prejudices

The key to understanding nature

The viewer's point of view

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?
A shadow

The eye of the blackbird

Tree limbs

Other men
21 Which of the following best describes the difference between the blackbird's presence in section I and section XIII?
unknown vs. known

motion vs. stillness

fear vs. tranquility

visible vs. invisible
22 Other than sight, what sense is used most often to describe the blackbird?
Smell

Taste

Touch

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

Tragedy

The lack of viable material to write poems about

Uncertainty and ambiguity
24 Stevens said that this sequence of stanzas is meant to be a collection of ________.
aphorisms

explanations

sensations

contradicting viewpoints
25 What does the poem suggest is the difference between finding the blackbird beautiful and finding it terrifying?
Our mental perspective

The time of year

What the blackbird is doing

Our geographic location

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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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