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

Writing this poem helped Glück reclaim her faith.

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

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?
2000

1992

2002

1993
3 What is at the end of the iris's suffering?
Nothing

A key

A door

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

The duality between mind and body

That which humans call "death"

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

Rhymed

Blank

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

Death

Nothing

Joy
7 Who is the speaker?
The Wild Iris

Glück

The Gardener-Poet

God
8 What perspective is the poem written in?
First

Third

First and second

Second
9 Which is not a major theme in this poem?
Cycles

Rebirth

Transformation

Hell
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 human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The life cycle of plants
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?
Its life

The ability to create

Its career as a writer

The human fear of being a soul and unable to speak; death
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?
There is "a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater" coming from the center of all our lives

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
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?
A Pulitzer

A Gugenheim

Robert Frost Medal

The Nobel Prize
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?
To rhyme with "smoke"

Glook

Glack

To rhyme with "click"
16 What defining event changed the course of Glück's life and writing when she was young?
A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

The death of her mother

Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?
Figurative Language

Poetic personnae

Metaphor

Her creative use of form
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?
Pulitzer Prize

A Guggenheim

None

Nobel Prize in Literature
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?
Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Depressing, austere, contemptul
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?
They frame the purpose and focus of the collection

They foreshadow the speaker's suffering

They embellish the speaker's joy

There is no relevance to the first lines
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?
One finds a voice

One can no longer communicate

One dies

One is changed
22 What does the door represent in the poem?
Something that God will close

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

A regular doorway

A human construct
23 What does the iris say is terrible?
To go through the door at the end of suffering

To suffer

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth

To see the birds darting in low shrubs
24 Which is an example of alliteration?
"from the center of my life came"

"a soul and unable / to speak"

"At the end of my suffering"

"You who do not remember"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?
a soul

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

birds darting in low shrubs.

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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