In Those Years Quizzes

In Those Years Quiz

1 In what years does the speaker believe people "lost track?"
The 1970s

The 80s and 90s

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

They are the same

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

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

The dark birds of history

The idea of community

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 mean more or less the same thing

They are seemingly in tension

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?
No one else can bear witness to it for you

You have to write everything down to be sure

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

It shows the speaker's confusion

It maintains iambic trimeter

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

class/income inequality

structural racism

structural misogyny
8 In the context of the poem, what is "personal weather?"
One's health and fitness

How one feels about one's community

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

The weather in one's zip code
9 At the end of the poem, where does the speaker imagine standing?
At the shore

With her community

In her yard

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

The beauty of nature

Isolation and fragility

Bearing witness to life as a whole
11 Given Rich's feminism, what is she encouraging readers to do?
Form community and care about those around them

Focus on their personal problems

Ignore the dark birds of history

Read more poetry
12 Where is there a "turn" in the poem?
In the last couplet

Between stanzas one and two

Between lines seven and eight

Between lines 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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