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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?
(a) Wales.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Scotland.
(d) The Hebrides.

5. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?
(a) They are all periodic sentences.
(b) They are all fragments.
(c) They are all questions.
(d) They are all run-ons.

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

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

8. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?
(a) Time and history.
(b) The reaper's tears.
(c) The reaper's personal experience.
(d) The song.

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

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

11. What do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?
(a) They both compare traveling to a specific time of year.
(b) They both compare the speaker to a traveler.
(c) The both compare music to a geographical location.
(d) They both compare the reaper to a bird.

12. In line 4, "Stop here, or gently pass!" what is the grammatical mood of the words "stop" and "pass"?
(a) Indicative.
(b) Interrogative.
(c) Subjunctive.
(d) Imperative.

13. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?
(a) At the top of a mountain.
(b) By a river in the foothills.
(c) In a valley.
(d) On the hillside.

14. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Verbal irony.
(b) Litotes.
(c) Contraction.
(d) Paradox.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?

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

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

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 keys)

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