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 people of Vietnam

The farmers of Laos
2 What is described as "stone" in the poem?
Paths

Walls

Lanterns

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

World War II

The Korean War

The Holocaust
4 Which tense does the poem mostly use?
Present tense

Past perfect tense

Past tense

Future tense
5 The Vietnamese people described in the poem are
Regular people

Peasants

Farmers

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

Ornaments

Jewelry

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

Rice paddies

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 war

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

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

Vietnamese proverbs

Vietnamese songs

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

The questioner

The American soldier

The respondent
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?
"Perhaps"

"It is silent now"

"A dream ago"

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

"If We Must Die"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"

"Life at War"
14 With which school of poetry is Denise Levertov NOT associated?
New American Poetry

Black Mountain

Modernism

New York School
15 The poem's setting is
a bomb shelter

unnamed

an American base

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
Metonymy

Metaphor

Motif

Allegory
19 Finish the line: "Ornament is for ..."
Joy

Rich people

Times of celebration

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

Screams

Whispers

Epic poetry
21 Were the Vietnamese "inclined to quiet laughter?"
They were very serious

The laughed loudly and joyfully

They preferred to sing

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

Metaphor

Motif

Alliteration
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1967

1975

1968

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
Organic verse

Free verse

Epic verse

Projective 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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