What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

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

Any victim of war

The farmers of Laos

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

Paths

Walls

Lanterns
3 The poem was written about which historical event?
The Vietnam War

World War II

The Korean War

The Holocaust
4 Which tense does the poem mostly use?
Present tense

Future tense

Past perfect tense

Past 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
Jewelry

Luxury

Ornaments

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

Jade mirrors

The horrors of war

Lanterns
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

They had an epic poem about war

No one knows
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese war planes

Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese proverbs

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

The respondent

The Vietnamese old man

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

Agriculture

Spring

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

"Perhaps"

"A dream ago"

"It is not remembered"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"If We Must Die"

"Life at War"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"

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

New American Poetry

Modernism

New York School
15 The poem's setting is
an American base

a Vietnamese village

unnamed

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

Elegaic

Impassionate

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

The viciousness of American soldiers

The importance of protecting cultures

The cost of war
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Metonymy

Metaphor

Motif

Allegory
19 Finish the line: "Ornament is for ..."
Rich people

Joy

Times of celebration

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

Epic poetry

Whispers

Screams
21 Were the Vietnamese "inclined to quiet laughter?"
They were very serious

Perhaps before the war

The laughed loudly and joyfully

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

Motif

Alliteration

Metaphor
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1975

1967

1982

1968
24 Who was another major poet who wrote poems against the war in Vietnam?
Jack Kerouac

George Sassoon

Anne Carson

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

Epic verse

Organic 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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