View a FREE sample

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 poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?
(a) Apology.
(b) Analogy.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Allusion.

2. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?
(a) The third.
(b) The first.
(c) The fourth.
(d) The second.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?

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

3. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?

4. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

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

(see the answer key)

This section contains 347 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample