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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 delivering supplies.
(b) He is out walking.
(c) He is working on a farm.
(d) He is there to confess his love for the woman.

2. What is the meaning of the word "lay" in the line "Or is it some more humble lay" (line 21)?
(a) A narrative poem written in couplets.
(b) A reclining position.
(c) Tune or song.
(d) A plan or pattern.

3. 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 singing a song that she has made up herself.
(c) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(d) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.

4. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?
(a) The metaphors in the second stanza.
(b) The poem's elevated diction.
(c) The repeated use of exclamation points.
(d) The poem's nature imagery.

5. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?
(a) Australia.
(b) Chile.
(c) Scotland.
(d) Russia.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?

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

4. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?

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

(see the answer key)

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