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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the young woman doing in the field?
(a) Pushing a cart down a path.
(b) Watching over grazing sheep.
(c) Harvesting a grain crop.
(d) Watching the speaker from the hillside.

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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) "I listened, motionless and still" (line 29).
(d) "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1).

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

9. 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) Imagery.
(c) Simile.
(d) Symbolism.

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

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

12. 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.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. 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"?

2. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?

3. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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