What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

1 Who is the "They" in "What Were They Like?"
The people of Vietnam

The farmers of Laos

Any victim of war

American soldiers
2 What is described as "stone" in the poem?
Walls

Lanterns

Ornaments

Paths
3 The poem was written about which historical event?
World War II

The Vietnam War

The Korean War

The Holocaust
4 Which tense does the poem mostly use?
Past perfect tense

Past tense

Present tense

Future tense
5 The Vietnamese people described in the poem are
Regular people

Farmers

Peasants

All of the above
6 Bone, ivory, jade, and silver are given as examples of
Frivolity

Jewelry

Ornaments

Luxury
7 What is compared to a "mirror" in the poem
Lanterns

Rice paddies

Jade mirrors

The horrors of war
8 In the poem, do the Vietnamese have an epic poem?
No one knows

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

They had an epic poem about war

They had a religious epic
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese proverbs

Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese songs

Vietnamese war planes
10 Who is called "sir" in the poem?
The questioner

The Vietnamese old man

The American soldier

The respondent
11 What is NOT one of the main meaning of "buds" in the poem?
Agriculture

Spring

Children

Reproduction
12 Which is NOT an example of uncertainty in the poem?
"It is silent now"

"Perhaps"

"It is not remembered"

"A dream ago"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"Life at War"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"

"If We Must Die"

"First Encounter"
14 With which school of poetry is Denise Levertov NOT associated?
New York School

Black Mountain

Modernism

New American Poetry
15 The poem's setting is
a Vietnamese village

an American base

a bomb shelter

unnamed
16 The tone of the second stanza can be described as
Enthusiastic

Elegaic

Formal

Impassionate
17 Which is NOT a major theme in the poem?
The common humanity of all people

The viciousness of American soldiers

The cost of war

The importance of protecting cultures
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Allegory

Motif

Metonymy

Metaphor
19 Finish the line: "Ornament is for ..."
Peace

Joy

Rich people

Times of celebration
20 The questioner wants to know whether the Vietnamese distinguished between speech and
Screams

Singing

Epic poetry

Whispers
21 Were the Vietnamese "inclined to quiet laughter?"
The laughed loudly and joyfully

They were very serious

Perhaps before the war

They preferred to sing
22 "Moths in moonlight" is an example of
Alliteration

Rhyme

Motif

Metaphor
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1968

1967

1975

1982
24 Who was another major poet who wrote poems against the war in Vietnam?
Jack Kerouac

Allen Ginsberg

George Sassoon

Anne Carson
25 Levertov referred to her poetic form as
Epic verse

Organic verse

Free verse

Projective verse

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What Were They Like? study guide contains a biography of Denise Levertov, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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