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

2. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?
(a) Octet.
(b) Ottava rima.
(c) Octave.
(d) Ballade.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?

(see the answer key)

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