What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

1 Who is the "They" in "What Were They Like?"
American soldiers

The people of Vietnam

The farmers of Laos

Any victim of war
2 What is described as "stone" in the poem?
Lanterns

Paths

Walls

Ornaments
3 The poem was written about which historical event?
World War II

The Holocaust

The Korean War

The Vietnam War
4 Which tense does the poem mostly use?
Past perfect tense

Future tense

Past tense

Present tense
5 The Vietnamese people described in the poem are
Farmers

Peasants

Regular people

All of the above
6 Bone, ivory, jade, and silver are given as examples of
Luxury

Jewelry

Frivolity

Ornaments
7 What is compared to a "mirror" in the poem
Jade mirrors

Lanterns

Rice paddies

The horrors of war
8 In the poem, do the Vietnamese have an epic poem?
No one knows

They had an epic poem about war

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

They had a religious epic
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese proverbs

Vietnamese war planes

Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese songs
10 Who is called "sir" in the poem?
The respondent

The American soldier

The Vietnamese old man

The questioner
11 What is NOT one of the main meaning of "buds" in the poem?
Children

Agriculture

Reproduction

Spring
12 Which is NOT an example of uncertainty in the poem?
"It is not remembered"

"It is silent now"

"Perhaps"

"A dream ago"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"First Encounter"

"Life at War"

"If We Must Die"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"
14 With which school of poetry is Denise Levertov NOT associated?
New American Poetry

Modernism

Black Mountain

New York School
15 The poem's setting is
an American base

unnamed

a bomb shelter

a Vietnamese village
16 The tone of the second stanza can be described as
Formal

Impassionate

Enthusiastic

Elegaic
17 Which is NOT a major theme in the poem?
The common humanity of all people

The cost of war

The importance of protecting cultures

The viciousness of American soldiers
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Metaphor

Metonymy

Motif

Allegory
19 Finish the line: "Ornament is for ..."
Rich people

Times of celebration

Joy

Peace
20 The questioner wants to know whether the Vietnamese distinguished between speech and
Epic poetry

Whispers

Screams

Singing
21 Were the Vietnamese "inclined to quiet laughter?"
Perhaps before the war

They preferred to sing

The laughed loudly and joyfully

They were very serious
22 "Moths in moonlight" is an example of
Rhyme

Metaphor

Alliteration

Motif
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1982

1968

1975

1967
24 Who was another major poet who wrote poems against the war in Vietnam?
Allen Ginsberg

Jack Kerouac

George Sassoon

Anne Carson
25 Levertov referred to her poetic form as
Organic verse

Projective verse

Free verse

Epic verse

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Study Guide for What Were They Like?

What Were They Like? study guide contains a biography of Denise Levertov, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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