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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?
(a) The poem's elevated diction.
(b) The poem's nature imagery.
(c) The metaphors in the second stanza.
(d) The repeated use of exclamation points.

2. What is the "sickle" in line 28?
(a) A handle used to pull a cart.
(b) A mark dyed into wool to track sheep.
(c) A tied sheaf of grain.
(d) A sharp cutting tool.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What is the young woman doing in the field?

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

5. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?

(see the answer key)

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