In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

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

The 80s and 90s

The 1970s

The 2000s

During her youth
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 the opposite: in a group, everyone is the same

They are the same

It is unrelated
3 What is "silly, ironic, terrible?"

A focus on the self alone

The idea of community

The USA

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

They mean more or less the same thing

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her

They are seemingly in tension

They both refer to the idea of community
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 ignore others

You get too anxious about your own problems
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 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

structural misogyny

class/income inequality
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

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

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

At the shore

In her yard

With her community

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

Isolation and fragility

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Anger at the dark birds of history

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

Focus on their personal problems

Form community and care about those around them

Read more poetry

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

Between lines seven and eight

In the last couplet

Between lines one and two

Between stanzas one and two

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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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