In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

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

The 2000s

The 1970s

During her youth

The 80s and 90s
2 What does the meaning of "you" have to do with the meaning of "we?"

It is unrelated

They are the same

It is the opposite: in a group, everyone is the same

It is part of it: within a group, we must recognize others
3 What is "silly, ironic, terrible?"

The dark birds of history

A focus on the self alone

The USA

The idea of community
4 What is the relationship between the adjectives "silly" and "terrible?"

They mean more or less the same thing

They are seemingly in tension

They both refer to the idea of community

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her
5 Why is it problematic if you can "only bear witness" to your own life?

You have to write everything down to be sure

No one else can bear witness to it for you

You ignore others

You get too anxious about your own problems
6 What is the effect of enjambment between the following lines: "we found ourselves/reduced to I"

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

It shows the speaker's confusion

It maintains iambic trimeter

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

structural racism

class/income inequality

structural misogyny

the extinction of bald eagles
8 In the context of the poem, what is "personal weather?"

One's health and fitness

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

The weather in one's zip code

How one feels about one's community
9 At the end of the poem, where does the speaker imagine standing?

With her community

In the fog of war

In her yard

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

Bearing witness to life as a whole

The beauty of nature

Isolation and fragility

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

Read more poetry

Focus on their personal problems

Ignore the dark birds of history

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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