What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

1 Who is the "They" in "What Were They Like?"
Any victim of war

American soldiers

The farmers of Laos

The people of Vietnam
2 What is described as "stone" in the poem?
Paths

Lanterns

Walls

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

The Korean War

The Holocaust

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

Past tense

Present tense

Past perfect tense
5 The Vietnamese people described in the poem are
Peasants

Farmers

Regular people

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

Luxury

Jewelry

Frivolity
7 What is compared to a "mirror" in the poem
Rice paddies

Lanterns

Jade mirrors

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

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

They had an epic poem about war

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

Vietnamese war planes

Vietnamese songs

Vietnamese insects
10 Who is called "sir" in the poem?
The Vietnamese old man

The questioner

The respondent

The American soldier
11 What is NOT one of the main meaning of "buds" in the poem?
Agriculture

Spring

Children

Reproduction
12 Which is NOT an example of uncertainty in the poem?
"A dream ago"

"It is silent now"

"Perhaps"

"It is not remembered"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"First Encounter"

"If We Must Die"

"Life at War"

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

New American Poetry

Black Mountain

Modernism
15 The poem's setting is
unnamed

an American base

a bomb shelter

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

Elegaic

Impassionate

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

The viciousness of American soldiers

The cost of war

The importance of protecting cultures
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Motif

Metaphor

Allegory

Metonymy
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
Singing

Epic poetry

Whispers

Screams
21 Were the Vietnamese "inclined to quiet laughter?"
They preferred to sing

They were very serious

The laughed loudly and joyfully

Perhaps before the war
22 "Moths in moonlight" is an example of
Motif

Rhyme

Alliteration

Metaphor
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1968

1967

1975

1982
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
Epic verse

Projective verse

Free verse

Organic 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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