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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 nature imagery.
(b) The repeated use of exclamation points.
(c) The metaphors in the second stanza.
(d) The poem's elevated diction.

2. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?
(a) She is singing in a language the speaker does not understand.
(b) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(c) She is singing a song that she has made up herself.
(d) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.

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

4. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?
(a) Wales.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Scotland.
(d) The Hebrides.

5. 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).

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?

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

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

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

5. 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"?

(see the answer key)

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