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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

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. What is the "sickle" in line 28?

3. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?

4. Besides that the reaper may be singing about some terrible moment in history, what else does the speaker guess she might be singing about?

5. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?

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

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

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

5. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you use evidence from the poem to affirm, refute, or qualify the following statement: Wordsworth's 'The Solitary Reaper' would be a less effective poem if the reader were aware of the specific song the reaper sings.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the relationship of music to ideas about memory and history in "The Solitary Reaper." Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you analyze the symbolic value of the nightingale in Wordsworth's poem. Be sure to research how this bird is traditionally used in Western literature, and support your assertions with evidence from the text and from your research. Cite all sources in MLA format.

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