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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Solitary Reaper.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is the best interpretation of line 6's reference to "a melancholy strain"?
(a) A difficult burden.
(b) Hard work.
(c) Persistent pain.
(d) A sad song.

2. What is the young woman doing in the field?
(a) Harvesting a grain crop.
(b) Watching the speaker from the hillside.
(c) Pushing a cart down a path.
(d) Watching over grazing sheep.

3. What do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?
(a) The both compare music to a geographical location.
(b) They both compare the speaker to a traveler.
(c) They both compare the reaper to a bird.
(d) They both compare traveling to a specific time of year.

4. Besides that the reaper may be singing about some terrible moment in history, what else does the speaker guess she might be singing about?
(a) Love and romance.
(b) Modern political events.
(c) The beauty of the Highlands.
(d) Ordinary, everyday troubles.

5. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Inversion.
(b) Symbolism.
(c) Simile.
(d) Imagery.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the fourth stanza, when the speaker finally places himself in the scene, what is it clear he is there to do?

2. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?

3. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?

4. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?

5. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?

(see the answer key)

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