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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?
(a) Honest.
(b) Alone.
(c) Unmarried.
(d) Simple.

2. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?
(a) The speaker.
(b) Shepherds.
(c) Travelers.
(d) The reaper.

3. 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 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.
(b) Line 26 has four metrical feet instead of the expected three, creating a feeling of "lingering."
(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.

4. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?
(a) The first.
(b) The third.
(c) The second.
(d) The fourth.

5. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Antanaclasis.
(d) Cacophony.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. Which stanza could be reasonably called the most positive in tone?

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

(see the answer key)

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