What Were They Like? Quizzes

What Were They Like? Quiz

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

The farmers of Laos

The people of Vietnam

Any victim of war
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 Vietnam War

The Holocaust

The Korean 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
Luxury

Frivolity

Jewelry

Ornaments
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?
They had a religious epic

They had an epic poem about the arrival of spring

They had an epic poem about war

No one knows
9 "Moths in moonlight" describe
Vietnamese insects

Vietnamese war planes

Vietnamese proverbs

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

The American soldier

The Vietnamese old man

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

Agriculture

Children

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

"Perhaps"

"It is not remembered"

"It is silent now"
13 Which is Denise Levertov's other famous anti-war poem?
"First Encounter"

"Wichita Vortex Sutra"

"Life at War"

"If We Must Die"
14 With which school of poetry is Denise Levertov NOT associated?
New American Poetry

Black Mountain

New York School

Modernism
15 The poem's setting is
a bomb shelter

unnamed

a Vietnamese village

an American base
16 The tone of the second stanza can be described as
Impassionate

Formal

Elegaic

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

The viciousness of American soldiers

The importance of protecting cultures

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

Metonymy

Metaphor

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

Rich people

Joy

Times of celebration
20 The questioner wants to know whether the Vietnamese distinguished between speech and
Whispers

Singing

Epic poetry

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

The laughed loudly and joyfully

Perhaps before the war

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

Rhyme

Metaphor

Alliteration
23 The Vietnam War lasted from 1955 to
1967

1968

1982

1975
24 Who was another major poet who wrote poems against the war in Vietnam?
Jack Kerouac

Allen Ginsberg

George Sassoon

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

Free verse

Epic 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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