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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Modern political events.
(b) Ordinary, everyday troubles.
(c) Love and romance.
(d) The beauty of the Highlands.

2. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?
(a) The third.
(b) The first.
(c) The fourth.
(d) The second.

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

4. 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 trochee.
(c) It begins with a spondee.
(d) It ends with a spondee.

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

6. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?
(a) William Blake.
(b) John Keats.
(c) Percy Shelley.
(d) William Wordsworth.

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

8. 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 contraction in line 25 creates a second line of trimeter in this stanza, emphasizing the musicality of the 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) Line 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.

9. Which is the best interpretation of line 6's reference to "a melancholy strain"?
(a) A sad song.
(b) A difficult burden.
(c) Persistent pain.
(d) Hard work.

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

11. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?
(a) Hyperbole.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Cacophony.
(d) Antanaclasis.

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

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

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

15. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Inversion.
(b) Simile.
(c) Symbolism.
(d) Imagery.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?

2. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?

3. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?

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

5. What is the "sickle" in line 28?

(see the answer keys)

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