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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 do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?
(a) They are all fragments.
(b) They are all periodic sentences.
(c) They are all run-ons.
(d) They are all questions.

2. Which stanza could be reasonably called the most positive in tone?
(a) The fourth.
(b) The second.
(c) The third.
(d) The first.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?

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

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

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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