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 helped Glück reclaim her faith.

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.

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.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?

1993

2002

2000

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

Nothing

A door

A key

Light
4 What does the iris claim to remember?

An old lover

The duality between mind and body

That which humans call "death"

The course of its life
5 What meter is this poem written in?

Rhymed

Sonnet

Free verse

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

Light

Joy

Death

Nothing
7 Who is the speaker?

The Gardener-Poet

The Wild Iris

God

Glück
8 What perspective is the poem written in?

First

Third

Second

First and second
9 Which is not a major theme in this poem?

Cycles

Transformation

Rebirth

Hell
10 Which of the following does not metaphorically resonate with the iris's experience as described in the poem?

The life cycle of plants

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The human fear of change, endings, and death
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?

The ability to create

Its career as a writer

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

Its life
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

There is "a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater" coming from the center of all our lives

Everyone likes the iris flower
13 Which detail connects to the designation of the iris as "wild"?

The low shrubs

The weak sun

The seawater

The birds
14 Which award did this collection go on to receive?

Robert Frost Medal

The Nobel Prize

A Pulitzer

A Gugenheim
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?

Glook

Glack

To rhyme with "click"

To rhyme with "smoke"
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

A troubled relationship with her father, leading to her to marry young

The death of her mother

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?

Figurative Language

Poetic personnae

Her creative use of form

Metaphor
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?

Pulitzer Prize

None

A Guggenheim

Nobel Prize in Literature
19 Which best summarizes the tone of the entire collection?

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive
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 foreshadow the speaker's suffering

They embellish the speaker's joy

They frame the purpose and focus of the collection
21 According to the iris, what happens when one returns from oblivion?

One finds a voice

One is changed

One can no longer communicate

One dies
22 What does the door represent in the poem?

A regular doorway

A human construct

Something that God will close

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation
23 What does the iris say is terrible?

To see the birds darting in low shrubs

To suffer

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth

To go through the door at the end of suffering
24 Which is an example of alliteration?

"You who do not remember"

"from the center of my life came"

"At the end of my suffering"

"a soul and unable / to speak"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?

a soul

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

birds darting in low shrubs.

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

Wild Iris Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Wild Iris is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Wild Iris

Wild Iris study guide contains a biography of Louise Gluck, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Wild Iris…