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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which sound device is used in line 56, "Have hung upon the beatings of my heart"?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Elision.
(c) Cacophony.
(d) Sibilance.

2. What is a "roe" (line 69)?
(a) A deer.
(b) A squirrel.
(c) A wild boar.
(d) A fish.

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

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

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

6. What do lines 60 and 61 describe with expressions like "recognitions dim and faint"?
(a) Failing vision.
(b) Fading memories.
(c) Misunderstandings.
(d) Shallow relationships.

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

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

9. 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.

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

11. 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) Epizeuxis.
(c) Caesura.
(d) Chiasmus.

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

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

14. How did the speaker primarily relate to nature when he was younger?
(a) Through his mind.
(b) Through his spirit.
(c) Through his actions.
(d) Through his senses.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is employed when the speaker says he cannot "paint" the person he used to be?

2. In line 75, what word does the speaker use to characterize his boyhood pleasures?

3. What "still sad music" does the speaker hear when he looks at the landscape (93)?

4. What techniques are evidence in line 88's phrase "nor mourn nor murmur"?

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

(see the answer keys)

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