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

2. 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"?
(a) Line 26 has four metrical feet instead of the expected three, creating a feeling of "lingering."
(b) The contraction in line 25 creates a second line of trimeter in this stanza, emphasizing the musicality of the song.
(c) Line 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.
(d) The feminine ending of line 26 emphasizes the idea of something that does not end when it is expected to.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?

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 reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?

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

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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