View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?

5. What do all three sentences in the third stanza have in common?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how the mention of "spring-time" in line 14's description of the cuckoo enhances the contrast between this image and the image of the nightingale.

2. In what way do the places associated with the two birds create a dramatic contrast with one another?

3. Summarize the action of "The Solitary Reaper."

4. What question does the speaker ask in the third stanza, and what two contrasting answers does he speculate about?

5. How does the speaker's line 26 description of the reaper singing "As if her song could have no ending" reinforce the meaning of the poem's ending?

6. Describe the tense shift in "The Solitary Reaper" and explain what it reveals about the poem's narrative present.

7. To which two birds does the speaker compare the reaper, and what area of the world does the speaker associate with each?

8. What are the names of the two forms of poetry that are combined in this poem, and how are they combined?

9. Describe the meter of "The Solitary Reaper."

10. Describe the rhyme scheme of "The Solitary Reaper."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 914 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample