In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

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

During her youth

The 80s and 90s

The 1970s

The 2000s
2 What does the meaning of "you" have to do with the meaning of "we?"

It is unrelated

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

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

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

The USA

The idea of community

The dark birds of history

A focus on the self alone
4 What is the relationship between the adjectives "silly" and "terrible?"

The speaker doesn't believe that either applies to her

They are seemingly in tension

They both refer to the idea of community

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

You ignore others

You get too anxious about your own problems

You have to write everything down to be sure

No one else can bear witness to it for you
6 What is the effect of enjambment between the following lines: "we found ourselves/reduced to I"

It shows the speaker's anger

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

It shows the speaker's confusion

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

structural misogyny

structural racism

class/income inequality

the extinction of bald eagles
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

The weather in one's zip code

How one feels about one's community
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?

The beauty of nature

Bearing witness to life as a whole

Anger at the dark birds of history

Isolation and fragility
11 Given Rich's feminism, what is she encouraging readers to do?

Ignore the dark birds of history

Form community and care about those around them

Read more poetry

Focus on their personal problems
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?

Between lines one and two

In the last couplet

Between lines seven and eight

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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