View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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 second.
(d) The first.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?
(a) She is singing a song that she has made up herself.
(b) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(c) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.
(d) She is singing in a language the speaker does not understand.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?

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

4. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?

5. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 547 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample