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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In line 4, "Stop here, or gently pass!" what is the grammatical mood of the words "stop" and "pass"?
(a) Interrogative.
(b) Imperative.
(c) Indicative.
(d) Subjunctive.

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

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

4. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?
(a) The reaper's tears.
(b) The reaper's personal experience.
(c) Time and history.
(d) The song.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In the fourth stanza, when the speaker finally places himself in the scene, what is it clear he is there to do?

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

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

4. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?

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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