What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

1 Who is the "They" in "What Were They Like?"
American soldiers

Any victim of war

The people of Vietnam

The farmers of Laos
2 What is described as "stone" in the poem?
Paths

Lanterns

Walls

Ornaments
3 The poem was written about which historical event?
The Holocaust

The Vietnam War

The Korean War

World War II
4 Which tense does the poem mostly use?
Future tense

Present tense

Past perfect tense

Past tense
5 The Vietnamese people described in the poem are
Peasants

Regular people

Farmers

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

Luxury

Frivolity

Jewelry
7 What is compared to a "mirror" in the poem
Rice paddies

Jade mirrors

Lanterns

The horrors of war
8 In the poem, do the Vietnamese have an epic poem?
They had a religious epic

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

No one knows

They had an epic poem about war
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese proverbs

Vietnamese war planes

Vietnamese songs
10 Who is called "sir" in the poem?
The Vietnamese old man

The questioner

The American soldier

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

Spring

Children

Agriculture
12 Which is NOT an example of uncertainty in the poem?
"A dream ago"

"It is not remembered"

"Perhaps"

"It is silent now"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"If We Must Die"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"

"Life at War"

"First Encounter"
14 With which school of poetry is Denise Levertov NOT associated?
Modernism

New York School

Black Mountain

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

an American base

unnamed

a bomb shelter
16 The tone of the second stanza can be described as
Formal

Elegaic

Impassionate

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

The importance of protecting cultures

The cost of war

The viciousness of American soldiers
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Allegory

Metonymy

Motif

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

Times of celebration

Rich people

Peace
20 The questioner wants to know whether the Vietnamese distinguished between speech and
Singing

Screams

Epic poetry

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

They preferred to sing

They were very serious

Perhaps before the war
22 "Moths in moonlight" is an example of
Rhyme

Motif

Alliteration

Metaphor
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1967

1968

1982

1975
24 Who was another major poet who wrote poems against the war in Vietnam?
Anne Carson

Jack Kerouac

George Sassoon

Allen Ginsberg
25 Levertov referred to her poetic form as
Organic verse

Free verse

Projective verse

Epic verse

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Study Guide for What Were They Like?

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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