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

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

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

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

5. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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