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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 technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Verbal irony.
(b) Litotes.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Contraction.

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

3. Which line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?
(a) "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1).
(b) "I listened, motionless and still" (line 29).
(c) "For old, unhappy, far-off things" (line 19).
(d) "Stop here, or gently pass" (line 4).

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) Ordinary, everyday troubles.
(c) The beauty of the Highlands.
(d) Modern political events.

5. What is the meaning of the word "lay" in the line "Or is it some more humble lay" (line 21)?
(a) A narrative poem written in couplets.
(b) A plan or pattern.
(c) A reclining position.
(d) Tune or song.

Short Answer Questions

1. In line 4, "Stop here, or gently pass!" what is the grammatical mood of the words "stop" and "pass"?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer key)

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