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

2. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Imagery.
(b) Symbolism.
(c) Simile.
(d) Inversion.

3. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?
(a) It ends with a spondee.
(b) It ends with a trochee.
(c) It begins with a trochee.
(d) It begins with a spondee.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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 do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?

4. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?

5. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?

(see the answer key)

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