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

2. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?
(a) On the hillside.
(b) By a river in the foothills.
(c) In a valley.
(d) At the top of a mountain.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?

2. Besides that the reaper may be singing about some terrible moment in history, what else does the speaker guess she might be singing about?

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

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

(see the answer key)

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