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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 stanza could be reasonably called the most positive in tone?
(a) The second.
(b) The first.
(c) The third.
(d) The fourth.

2. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?
(a) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.
(b) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(c) She is singing a song that she has made up herself.
(d) She is singing in a language the speaker does not understand.

3. In the fourth stanza, when the speaker finally places himself in the scene, what is it clear he is there to do?
(a) He is there to confess his love for the woman.
(b) He is out walking.
(c) He is delivering supplies.
(d) He is working on a farm.

4. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?
(a) Time and history.
(b) The reaper's personal experience.
(c) The reaper's tears.
(d) The song.

5. What technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?
(a) Synesthesia.
(b) Aphorismus.
(c) Onomatopoeia.
(d) Sibilance.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the "sickle" in line 28?

2. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?

3. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

4. What do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?

5. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?

(see the answer key)

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