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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 technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?
2. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?
3. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?
4. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?
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?
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. Describe the tense shift in "The Solitary Reaper" and explain what it reveals about the poem's narrative present.
3. In what way do the places associated with the two birds create a dramatic contrast with one another?
4. What are the names of the two forms of poetry that are combined in this poem, and how are they combined?
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. Summarize the action of "The Solitary Reaper."
7. Describe the rhyme scheme of "The Solitary Reaper."
8. Describe the meter of "The Solitary Reaper."
9. To which two birds does the speaker compare the reaper, and what area of the world does the speaker associate with each?
10. What question does the speaker ask in the third stanza, and what two contrasting answers does he speculate about?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the significance of the poem's setting. Defend your ideas with evidence from the text.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the relationship of past and present in "The Solitary Reaper." Be sure to defend your assertions with evidence from the text.
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay in which you analyze the significance of the reaper's Scots origin. Defend your ideas with evidence from the text. If you use outside sources, credit them in MLA format.
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This section contains 924 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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