Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

Sestina (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 The phrase "her teacup full of dark brown tears" is an example of which of the following?
Verbal irony

Simile

Personification

Metaphor
2 What does "foretold" mean?
Predicted

Threatened

Imagined

Dreaded
3 Who is the speaker?
The almanac

The grandchild

The grandmother

An omniscient third person
4 What kind of stanzas are in this poem?
Quatrains

Sestets

Tercets

Sestets and a tercet
5 The word "birdlike" is an instance of what?
Understatement

Simile

Metaphor

Hyperbole
6 Which is NOT a major theme of this poem?
Adventure

Care

Repression

Trauma
7 In what month does the poem take place?
September

November

December

October
8 Which best describes the sestina as a form?
It consists of couplets with identical end words, which are preceded by a rhymed word

It contains repeated concluding words in every line, which shift order from one stanza to the next

It builds up to a volta, or turn, which takes place after either the eighth or twelfth line

It contains two repeated, alternating refrains, which appear at the close of every stanza
9 Which best describes the two characters' dynamic?
They are blissfully happy, as-yet unaware of the tragedy in their family

They are hostile with one another, blaming each other for their shared past

They are both haunted by the same event, but do no openly discuss that event

They are haunted by a recent tragedy, but discuss that event at length to comfort each other
10 Which is NOT one of the repeated words in this poem?
grandmother

stove

tears

kettle
11 What is an almanac?
A family photo album

A joke book

A type of reference book containing information such as calendars

A journal used for recording household expenditures
12 What does "rigid" mean?
Inflexible

Rude

Sturdy

Ironic
13 To what does Bishop compare the tea in the grandmother's cup?
The ocean

Blood

Tears

Milk
14 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBCDD EFFGEE

ABABAB

ABBA CDDC EFFE

It is unrhymed
15 What does the word "inscrutable" mean?
Mysterious

Funny

Painful

Hard
16 What does the child draw?
Herself

The moon

A stove

A house
17 When was this poem first published?
1979

1928

1953

1956
18 What is the final stanza of a sestina called?
An aubade

An envoi

A volta

A strophe
19 Where is the poem set?
Boston

The English countryside

Its setting is unstated

New Orleans
20 What does "Marvel" refer to in this poem?
A media company

An adjective meaning "amazing"

A brand of kitchenware

A sect of Christianity
21 How many stanzas are in this poem?
7

16

5

6
22 Which of the following contains alliteration?
"the old grandmother"

"shows it proudly to the grandmother."

"sings on the stove"

"September rain falls"
23 In which publication did this poem first appear?
The Paris Review

Harpers

None—it first appeared in book form

The New Yorker
24 What has traumatized the characters in this poem?
The death of the child's mother

A war

A house fire

The precise nature of the event is hinted at but never revealed
25 What is an equinox?
The hottest night of the year

A night on which an eclipse happens

A date on which the night and the day are of the same length

The longest day of the year

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