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

2. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?
(a) You.
(b) My.
(c) Over there, that one.
(d) Nearby, this one.

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

4. What do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?
(a) The both compare music to a geographical location.
(b) They both compare traveling to a specific time of year.
(c) They both compare the reaper to a bird.
(d) They both compare the speaker to a traveler.

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) Time and history.
(b) The song.
(c) The reaper's tears.
(d) The reaper's personal experience.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Which is the best interpretation of line 6's reference to "a melancholy strain"?

(see the answer key)

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