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?
Glück chose from a thousand ideas she had, and set out to write from the perspectives of plants.

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

Writing this poem helped Glück reclaim her faith.

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?
2002

2000

1993

1992
3 What is at the end of the iris's suffering?
A door

Light

Nothing

A key
4 What does the iris claim to remember?
The course of its life

That which humans call "death"

The duality between mind and body

An old lover
5 What meter is this poem written in?
Rhymed

Free verse

Sonnet

Blank
6 Finish this quote: Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting. / Then ___"
Death

Light

Joy

Nothing
7 Who is the speaker?
God

The Gardener-Poet

The Wild Iris

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

First

Second

Third
9 Which is not a major theme in this poem?
Rebirth

Transformation

Hell

Cycles
10 Which of the following does not metaphorically resonate with the iris's experience as described in the poem?
The human fear of change, endings, and death

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The life cycle of plants

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

The human fear of being a soul and unable to speak; death

Its life

Its career as a writer
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?
There is a metaphorical gardener in each one of us

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

The seawater

The birds

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

Robert Frost Medal

A Gugenheim

A Pulitzer
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?
Glook

To rhyme with "smoke"

To rhyme with "click"

Glack
16 What defining event changed the course of Glück's life and writing when she was young?
Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking

The death of her mother

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?
Her creative use of form

Poetic personnae

Metaphor

Figurative Language
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?
None

Pulitzer Prize

A Guggenheim

Nobel Prize in Literature
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?
Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?
There is no relevance to the first lines

They embellish the speaker's joy

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 can no longer communicate

One dies

One is changed

One finds a voice
22 What does the door represent in the poem?
Something that God will close

A human construct

A regular doorway

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation
23 What does the iris say is terrible?
To go through the door at the end of suffering

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth

To suffer

To see the birds darting in low shrubs
24 Which is an example of alliteration?
"At the end of my suffering"

"from the center of my life came"

"You who do not remember"

"a soul and unable / to speak"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?
birds darting in low shrubs.

a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater.

a soul

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

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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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