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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Modern political events.
(b) The beauty of the Highlands.
(c) Love and romance.
(d) Ordinary, everyday troubles.

2. 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 out walking.
(b) He is there to confess his love for the woman.
(c) He is working on a farm.
(d) He is delivering supplies.

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

4. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?
(a) Ireland.
(b) Scotland.
(c) Wales.
(d) The Hebrides.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?

2. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?

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

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

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"?

(see the answer key)

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