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 80s and 90s

The 1970s
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

They are the same

It is unrelated

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 are seemingly in tension

They both refer to the idea of community

They mean more or less the same thing

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?

You have to write everything down to be sure

No one else can bear witness to it for you

You get too anxious about your own problems

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

It maintains iambic trimeter

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

It shows the speaker's confusion

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

class/income inequality

structural misogyny

the extinction of bald eagles

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

One's health and fitness

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
9 At the end of the poem, where does the speaker imagine standing?

With her community

In her yard

At the shore

In the fog of war
10 What does the image of the individual alone at the shore suggest?

Anger at the dark birds of history

Isolation and fragility

Bearing witness to life as a whole

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

Focus on their personal problems

Ignore the dark birds of history

Read more poetry

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

Between stanzas one and two

Between lines 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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