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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 "sickle" in line 28?
(a) A sharp cutting tool.
(b) A mark dyed into wool to track sheep.
(c) A tied sheaf of grain.
(d) A handle used to pull a cart.

2. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?
(a) Unmarried.
(b) Simple.
(c) Alone.
(d) Honest.

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

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

5. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?
(a) My.
(b) Nearby, this one.
(c) You.
(d) Over there, that one.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?

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

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

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

5. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

(see the answer key)

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