In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

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

The 2000s

During her youth

The 1970s

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 part of it: within a group, we must recognize others

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

A focus on the self alone

The USA

The idea of community

The dark birds of history
4 What is the relationship between the adjectives "silly" and "terrible?"

They both refer to the idea of community

They mean more or less the same thing

They are seemingly in tension

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?

No one else can bear witness to it for you

You get too anxious about your own problems

You have to write everything down to be sure

You ignore others
6 What is the effect of enjambment between the following lines: "we found ourselves/reduced to I"

It shows the speaker's confusion

It shows the speaker's anger

It maintains iambic trimeter

The second undercuts the first, showing the separation of individuals from community
7 Which of the following is NOT be a likely meaning of "the dark birds of history?"

structural misogyny

the extinction of bald eagles

class/income inequality

structural racism
8 In the context of the poem, what is "personal weather?"

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

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

In her yard

In the fog of war

At the shore

With her community
10 What does the image of the individual alone at the shore suggest?

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Isolation and fragility

The beauty of nature

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

Form community and care about those around them

Focus on their personal problems

Read more poetry

Ignore the dark birds of history
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?

In the last couplet

Between stanzas one and two

Between lines one and two

Between lines seven and eight

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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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