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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Solitary Reaper.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?
(a) Octave.
(b) Ballade.
(c) Ottava rima.
(d) Octet.

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

3. Besides that the reaper may be singing about some terrible moment in history, what else does the speaker guess she might be singing about?
(a) Love and romance.
(b) Modern political events.
(c) The beauty of the Highlands.
(d) Ordinary, everyday troubles.

4. 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) Simile.
(c) Inversion.
(d) Symbolism.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?

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

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

(see the answer key)

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