In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

1 In what years does the speaker believe people "lost track?"
During her youth

The 2000s

The 1970s

The 80s and 90s
2 What does the meaning of "you" have to do with the meaning of "we?"
It is part of it: within a group, we must recognize others

They are the same

It is unrelated

It is the opposite: in a group, everyone is the same
3 What is "silly, ironic, terrible?"
The idea of community

The USA

A focus on the self alone

The dark birds of history
4 What is the relationship between the adjectives "silly" and "terrible?"
They are seemingly in tension

They both refer to the idea of community

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her

They mean more or less the same thing
5 Why is it problematic if you can "only bear witness" to your own life?
You get too anxious about your own problems

You ignore others

You have to write everything down to be sure

No one else can bear witness to it for you
6 What is the effect of enjambment between the following lines: "we found ourselves/reduced to I"
It maintains iambic trimeter

The second undercuts the first, showing the separation of individuals from community

It shows the speaker's anger

It shows the speaker's confusion
7 Which of the following is NOT be a likely meaning of "the dark birds of history?"
structural misogyny

class/income inequality

structural racism

the extinction of bald eagles
8 In the context of the poem, what is "personal weather?"
How one feels about one's community

The weather in one's zip code

The way one's life is going at any giving point, i.e. stormy or sunny

One's health and fitness
9 At the end of the poem, where does the speaker imagine standing?
With her community

In her yard

In the fog of war

At the shore
10 What does the image of the individual alone at the shore suggest?
Isolation and fragility

The beauty of nature

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Anger at the dark birds of history
11 Given Rich's feminism, what is she encouraging readers to do?
Ignore the dark birds of history

Read more poetry

Focus on their personal problems

Form community and care about those around them
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?
Between lines one and two

Between lines seven and eight

Between stanzas one and two

In the last couplet

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In Those Years study guide contains a biography of Adrienne Rich, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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