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.

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

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

1992

2002

2000

1993
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?

An old lover

That which humans call "death"

The course of its life

The duality between mind and body
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 ___"

Light

Joy

Death

Nothing
7 Who is the speaker?

The Gardener-Poet

Glück

The Wild Iris

God
8 What perspective is the poem written in?

Third

First

Second

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

Hell

Transformation

Cycles

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

The human tendency to mourn and lay blame

The two-year hiatus in Glück's writing

The human fear of change, endings, and death

The life cycle of plants
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?

Everyone likes the iris flower

Everyone relies on self-expression to survive; "being / a soul and unable / to speak" is a common fear

There is a metaphorical gardener in each one of us

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 seawater

The low shrubs

The birds

The weak sun
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

To rhyme with "click"

Glack
16 What defining event changed the course of Glück's life and writing when she was young?

A scholarship to the Iowa Writer's Workshop

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

Dealing with anorexia and undergoing psychoanalysis, which shaped her thinking

The death of her mother
17 For which of the following is Glück most renowned?

Metaphor

Poetic personnae

Her creative use of form

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?

Depressing, austere, contemptul

Hopeful, sorrowful, contemplative, emotive

Rageful, disdainful, sharp, forgiving

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 finds a voice

One is changed

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

A change in circumstances and a self-transformation

A human construct

Something that God will close

A regular doorway
23 What does the iris say is terrible?

To go through the door at the end of suffering

To see the birds darting in low shrubs

To suffer

To survive as consciousness buried in the dark earth
24 Which is an example of alliteration?

"At the end of my suffering"

"a soul and unable / to speak"

"from the center of my life came"

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

consciousness buried / in the dark earth.

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

birds darting in low shrubs.

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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