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 1970s

The 2000s
2 What does the meaning of "you" have to do with the meaning of "we?"
It is part of it: within a group, we must recognize others

It is unrelated

They are the same

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

The USA

The dark birds of history

A focus on the self alone
4 What is the relationship between the adjectives "silly" and "terrible?"
They both refer to the idea of community

They are seemingly in tension

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her

They mean more or less the same thing
5 Why is it problematic if you can "only bear witness" to your own life?
You get too anxious about your own problems

You ignore others

No one else can bear witness to it for you

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

It maintains iambic trimeter

It shows the speaker's anger

It shows the speaker's confusion
7 Which of the following is NOT be a likely meaning of "the dark birds of history?"
the extinction of bald eagles

structural racism

class/income inequality

structural misogyny
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

How one feels about one's community

The weather in one's zip code

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

At the shore

In the fog of war

With her community
10 What does the image of the individual alone at the shore suggest?
Anger at the dark birds of history

The beauty of nature

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Isolation and fragility
11 Given Rich's feminism, what is she encouraging readers to do?
Form community and care about those around them

Ignore the dark birds of history

Focus on their personal problems

Read more poetry
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?
Between lines one and two

Between stanzas one and two

In the last couplet

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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