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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?
(a) They are all questions.
(b) They are all fragments.
(c) They are all run-ons.
(d) They are all periodic sentences.

2. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?
(a) Apology.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Analogy.

3. 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.

4. 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 singing in a language the speaker does not understand.
(c) She is singing a song that she has made up herself.
(d) She is too far away to be heard clearly.

5. What is subtly appropriate about the meter in lines 25 and 26, "Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang / As if her song could have no ending"?
(a) Line 26 has four metrical feet instead of the expected three, creating a feeling of "lingering."
(b) Line 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.
(c) The contraction in line 25 creates a second line of trimeter in this stanza, emphasizing the musicality of the song.
(d) The feminine ending of line 26 emphasizes the idea of something that does not end when it is expected to.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?

2. Besides that the reaper may be singing about some terrible moment in history, what else does the speaker guess she might be singing about?

3. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?

4. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?

5. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

(see the answer key)

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