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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 line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?
(a) "Stop here, or gently pass" (line 4).
(b) "For old, unhappy, far-off things" (line 19).
(c) "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1).
(d) "I listened, motionless and still" (line 29).

2. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?
(a) It ends with a trochee.
(b) It begins with a trochee.
(c) It ends with a spondee.
(d) It begins with a spondee.

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

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

5. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?
(a) Shepherds.
(b) The reaper.
(c) Travelers.
(d) The speaker.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?

3. Which stanza could be reasonably called the most positive in tone?

4. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?

5. 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"?

(see the answer key)

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