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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In line 17, “hung with icicles of frost while hail flew in showers,” how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?
(a) 3.
(b) 5.
(c) 4
(d) 2.

2. The narrator remarks that “I heard nothing there but the noise of the sea” (l. 18). Relative stress / emphasis falls at the beginning of which words in the remark?
(a) I and nothing.
(b) I and sea.
(c) Heard and noise.
(d) There and the.

3. In line 29, the description “proud and puffed up with wine” offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Anaphora.
(b) Antithesis.
(c) Alliteration.
(d) Allegory.

4. 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) Künstlerroman.
(c) Cunning.
(d) Kenning.

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

6. The phrase “in days of toil / I’ve often suffered troubled times, / hard heartache” (ll. 2-4) offers examples of which of the following?
(a) Pentameter.
(b) Rhyme.
(c) Euphemism.
(d) Alliteration.

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

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

9. 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?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Passant.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Pointillism.

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

11. 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) Passant.
(b) Paradox.
(c) Pointillism.
(d) Parallelism.

12. What does the narrator describe as urging his spirit onwards (l. 36)?
(a) His soul's caress.
(b) His heart's desire.
(c) His father's fury.
(d) His beloved's blessing.

13. The phrase “frost bound the ground, hail fell on the earth” (l. 32) offers an example of which of the following?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Pun.
(d) Rhyme.

14. In the phrase “to try for myself” (l. 34), relative stress / emphasis falls on the first or only syllable of which of the following?
(a) To.
(b) Myself.
(c) For.
(d) Try.

15. In which collection does “The Seafarer” appear?
(a) The Winchester Manuscript.
(b) The Vercelli Book.
(c) The Exeter Book.
(d) The Voynich Manuscript.

Short Answer Questions

1. In line 28, “suffered few sad journeys, scarcely believes,” relative stress / emphasis falls on the first or only syllable of which of the following?

2. 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?

3. In the phrase “were my feet, bound by frost” (l. 9), which of the following words receives relative stress / emphasis?

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

5. In line 29, the description “proud and puffed up with wine” is a descriptor meaning which of the following?

(see the answer keys)

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