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

Any victim of war

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

Paths

Ornaments

Walls
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 tense

Present tense

Future tense

Past perfect 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
Jewelry

Luxury

Frivolity

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

Lanterns

The horrors of war

Jade mirrors
8 In the poem, do the Vietnamese have an epic poem?
They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

No one knows

They had a religious epic

They had an epic poem about war
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese proverbs

Vietnamese songs

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

The American soldier

The questioner

The respondent
11 What is NOT one of the main meaning of "buds" in the poem?
Spring

Reproduction

Children

Agriculture
12 Which is NOT an example of uncertainty in the poem?
"Perhaps"

"It is not remembered"

"A dream ago"

"It is silent now"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"If We Must Die"

"First Encounter"

"Life at War"

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

Black Mountain

New American Poetry

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

a Vietnamese village

an American base

unnamed
16 The tone of the second stanza can be described as
Impassionate

Formal

Enthusiastic

Elegaic
17 Which is NOT a major theme in the poem?
The viciousness of American soldiers

The importance of protecting cultures

The common humanity of all people

The cost of war
18 Hearts turned to stone is an example of a
Motif

Allegory

Metaphor

Metonymy
19 Finish the line: "Ornament is for ..."
Times of celebration

Peace

Joy

Rich people
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?"
Perhaps before the war

They preferred to sing

They were very serious

The laughed loudly and joyfully
22 "Moths in moonlight" is an example of
Rhyme

Alliteration

Motif

Metaphor
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?
Anne Carson

Jack Kerouac

Allen Ginsberg

George Sassoon
25 Levertov referred to her poetic form as
Free verse

Epic verse

Organic verse

Projective verse

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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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