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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 second.
(b) The fourth.
(c) The third.
(d) The first.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In the fourth stanza, when the speaker finally places himself in the scene, what is it clear he is there to do?

3. In line 4, "Stop here, or gently pass!" what is the grammatical mood of the words "stop" and "pass"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. 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?

9. 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.

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

(see the answer keys)

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