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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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) Imperative.
(d) Subjunctive.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

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

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

4. Where in the Highlands is the field where the woman is standing?

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 keys)

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