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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From which of the following does the narrator note the tern replies (l. 23)?
(a) Stone cliffs.
(b) Solemn graves.
(c) Standing trees.
(d) Ship's stem.

2. The narrator remarks that none “could bring consolation to my desolate soul” (l. 26). How many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are in the line?
(a) 3.
(b) 6.
(c) 4.
(d) 5.

3. To which genre does “The Seafarer” belong?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Epic.
(c) Exegesis.
(d) Elegy.

4. Which of the following came from the north (l. 31)?
(a) Snow.
(b) Rain.
(c) Attack.
(d) Wind.

5. In line 29, the description “proud and puffed up with wine” is a descriptor meaning which of the following?
(a) Intoxicated.
(b) Obtuse.
(c) Heavyset.
(d) Exultant.

6. The narrator suggests that the seafarer of the title is which of the following (ll. 35-38)?
(a) The narrator.
(b) His spirit.
(c) The man in town.
(d) God.

7. The second sentence of the poem reads “Pinched with cold / were my feet, bound by frost / in cold fetters, while cares seethed / hot around my heart, hunger tore from within / my sea-weary mind” (ll. 8-12). The sentence offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Paradox.
(b) Pointillism.
(c) Parallelism.
(d) Passant.

8. The narrator describes the "salt streams" as which of the following (l. 35)?
(a) Flowing.
(b) Seething.
(c) Churning.
(d) Tossing.

9. Of which of the following is narrator deprived when he “wretched with care, dwelt all winter / on the ice-cold sea in the paths of exile" (ll. 13-16)?
(a) Dear kinsmen.
(b) Dead kinsmen.
(c) Deer hunting.
(d) Dear kissing.

10. The narrator remarks that “That man does not know, / he whose lot is fairest on land, / how I, wretched with care, dwelt all winter / on the ice-cold sea in the paths of exile, / deprived of dear kinsmen, / hung with icicles of frost while hail flew in showers” (ll. 12-17). The sentence offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Curling.
(b) Kenning.
(c) Cunning.
(d) Künstlerroman.

11. The narrator describes hail as which of the following (ll. 32-33)?
(a) Badly restrained.
(b) Coldest of grains.
(c) Sorest of pains.
(d) Best of refrains.

12. In line 30, “have often had to endure in my seafaring,” relative stress / emphasis falls on the first or only syllable of which of the following?
(a) Endure.
(b) My.
(c) Seafaring.
(d) Had.

13. Which of the following does the narrator “come to know / on the keel of a ship” (ll. 5-6)?
(a) Care's swellings.
(b) Care's dwellings.
(c) Car selling.
(d) Coarse dwellings.

14. The narrator describes his doubter as which of the following (ll. 27-30)?
(a) He has fought in many tourneys.
(b) He has traveled in many journeys.
(c) He has suffered few sad journeys.
(d) He has enjoyed few happy journeys.

15. The narrator describes his thoughts as doing which of the following (ll. 33-34)?
(a) Dissuade him.
(b) Compel him.
(c) Suggest to him.
(d) Forbid him.

Short Answer Questions

1. In line 32, “frost bound the ground, hail fell on the earth,” how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?

2. How many stressed / emphasized syllables occur in the opening comment of the poem, “I sing a true song of myself” (l. 1)?

3. In which collection does “The Seafarer” appear?

4. The narrator remarks that “the wild swan’s song / sometimes served as my music, the gannet’s call / and the curlew’s cry for the laughter of men, / the seagull’s singing for mead-drink” (ll. 19-22). The passage offers an example of which of the following?

5. In the phrase “to try for myself” (l. 34), relative stress / emphasis falls on the first or only syllable of which of the following?

(see the answer keys)

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