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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. 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.

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

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

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

8. 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 the reaper to a bird.
(d) They both compare traveling to a specific time of year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the meaning of the word "lay" in the line "Or is it some more humble lay" (line 21)?

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

3. Which line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?

4. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

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

(see the answer keys)

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