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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What is the meaning of the word "lay" in the line "Or is it some more humble lay" (line 21)?
(a) A reclining position.
(b) A narrative poem written in couplets.
(c) A plan or pattern.
(d) Tune or song.

4. 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 delivering supplies.
(c) He is out walking.
(d) He is there to confess his love for the woman.

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

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

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

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

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

10. 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 26 has four metrical feet instead of the expected three, creating a feeling of "lingering."
(b) Line 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.
(c) The feminine ending of line 26 emphasizes the idea of something that does not end when it is expected to.
(d) The contraction in line 25 creates a second line of trimeter in this stanza, emphasizing the musicality of the song.

11. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?
(a) The repeated use of exclamation points.
(b) The poem's elevated diction.
(c) The metaphors in the second stanza.
(d) The poem's nature imagery.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?

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

4. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?

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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