In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

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

The 80s and 90s

During her youth

The 2000s

The 1970s
2 What does the meaning of "you" have to do with the meaning of "we?"

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

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

It is unrelated

They are the same
3 What is "silly, ironic, terrible?"

The idea of community

A focus on the self alone

The USA

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

They are seemingly in tension

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her

They mean more or less the same thing

They both refer to the idea of community
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 ignore others

You get too anxious about your own problems

You have to write everything down to be sure
6 What is the effect of enjambment between the following lines: "we found ourselves/reduced to I"

It shows the speaker's confusion

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

It shows the speaker's anger

It maintains iambic trimeter
7 Which of the following is NOT be a likely meaning of "the dark birds of history?"

class/income inequality

structural racism

structural misogyny

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

The weather in one's zip code

How one feels about one's community

One's health and fitness

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

Anger at the dark birds of history

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Isolation and fragility

The beauty of nature
11 Given Rich's feminism, what is she encouraging readers to do?

Ignore the dark birds of history

Focus on their personal problems

Read more poetry

Form community and care about those around them
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?

In the last couplet

Between lines one and two

Between stanzas 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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