View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which technique is used in the phrase "the fever of the world" in line 55?
(a) Metaphor.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Synecdoche.
(d) Simile.

2. What is the "remoter charm" that the speaker mentions in line 83?
(a) The attraction of far-away places.
(b) The excitement of discovery.
(c) The pleasure of philosophical thought.
(d) The bittersweet feeling of nostalgia.

3. Which technique is used in the line 70 phrase "I bounded o'er the mountains"?
(a) Elision.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Platitude.
(d) Alliteration.

4. What is emphasized by the unusual word order in line 78's "What then I was"?
(a) The speaker's eccentricity.
(b) The speaker's philosophical nature.
(c) The speaker's distance from the past.
(d) The speaker's ego.

5. Which technique is employed in line 64, "While here I stand, not only with the sense"?
(a) Inversion.
(b) Platitude.
(c) Isocolon.
(d) Paraprosdokian.

6. In line 75, what word does the speaker use to characterize his boyhood pleasures?
(a) "Sweeter."
(b) "Foolish."
(c) "Coarser."
(d) "Heedless."

7. What idea is conveyed by the details listed toward the end of the fourth verse paragraph?
(a) It is natural for people to get more philosophical and less emotional as they age.
(b) Although essentially amoral, nature can still teach humans important lessons.
(c) All things are unified and guided by a single spiritual force.
(d) Nature is far more mysterious than most people understand.

8. What technique is employed when the speaker calls the view "food" for future years (line 66)?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Verbal irony.
(c) Symbolism.
(d) Metaphor.

9. Which is the best definition of the word "vain" in the context of line 52?
(a) Conceited, proud.
(b) Foolish, worthless.
(c) Unsuccessful, doomed to failure.
(d) Changeable, wavering.

10. What is the best definition of "impels" in the context of line 102?
(a) To inspire and improve.
(b) To limit or define.
(c) To drive or motivate action.
(d) To force compliance.

11. What is the best definition of "cataract" in the context of line 78?
(a) Pounding heart.
(b) Narrowing canyon.
(c) Clouded vision.
(d) Rushing water.

12. To whom is the apostrophe in lines 57-59 addressed?
(a) The woods.
(b) The mountains.
(c) The hermit.
(d) The river.

13. Which is the best definition of "perplexity" in the context of line 62?
(a) Melancholy.
(b) Complication.
(c) Intuition.
(d) Confusion.

14. How does the speaker characterize the daytime activities of humans in the city?
(a) They are pointless.
(b) They are reckless.
(c) They are dangerous.
(d) They are panicked.

15. What technique is used in lines 100-101: "And the round ocean and the living air,/ And the blue sky, and in the mind of man"?
(a) Polysyndeton.
(b) Caesura.
(c) Epizeuxis.
(d) Chiasmus.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the primary rhetorical function of the alliteration in line 65, "Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts"?

2. How do the speaker's present emotions compare with his past emotions?

3. What is emphasized by the diction "appetite" and "feeling" in line 82?

4. Which sound device is used in line 56, "Have hung upon the beatings of my heart"?

5. What is a "roe" (line 69)?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 516 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample