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 helped Glück reclaim her faith.

Glück knew she would win prizes for this poem.

Writing this poem broke a two-year writing block for Glück.
2 When was the collection as a whole published?

2002

1993

2000

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

Light

A door

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?

Blank

Sonnet

Rhymed

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

Light

Nothing

Joy

Death
7 Who is the speaker?

Glück

The Gardener-Poet

The Wild Iris

God
8 What perspective is the poem written in?

Second

Third

First

First and 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 life cycle of plants

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing
11 What does the Iris claim to be "over" in the poem?

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

Its career as a writer

The ability to create

Its life
12 Why might this poem be relatable to anyone?

There is a metaphorical gardener in each one of us

Everyone likes the iris flower

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

Everyone relies on self-expression to survive; "being / a soul and unable / to speak" is a common fear
13 Which detail connects to the designation of the iris as "wild"?

The birds

The seawater

The low shrubs

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

A Gugenheim

A Pulitzer

The Nobel Prize

Robert Frost Medal
15 How is "Glück" pronounced?

To rhyme with "click"

To rhyme with "smoke"

Glack

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

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

Figurative Language

Metaphor

Her creative use of form

Poetic personnae
18 What prize did Glück win in 2020?

A Guggenheim

None

Pulitzer Prize

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

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Joyful, celebratory, emotive, intense

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving
20 What do the first lines in "The Wild Iris" do in relation to the whole collection?

They foreshadow the speaker's suffering

They embellish the speaker's joy

There is no relevance to the first lines

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 can no longer communicate

One is changed

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

A regular doorway

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

A human construct

Something that God will close
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?

"You who do not remember"

"a soul and unable / to speak"

"from the center of my life came"

"At the end of my suffering"
25 What comes from the center of the iris's life?

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

birds darting in low shrubs.

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

a soul

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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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