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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 line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?
(a) Aphorismus.
(b) Sibilance.
(c) Synesthesia.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

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

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 a song that she has made up herself.
(b) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.
(c) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(d) She is singing in a language the speaker does not understand.

4. In the fourth stanza, when the speaker finally places himself in the scene, what is it clear he is there to do?
(a) He is there to confess his love for the woman.
(b) He is working on a farm.
(c) He is out walking.
(d) He is delivering supplies.

5. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?
(a) Alone.
(b) Simple.
(c) Honest.
(d) Unmarried.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?

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

3. What is subtly appropriate about the meter in lines 25 and 26, "Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang / As if her song could have no ending"?

4. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?

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?

(see the answer key)

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