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

2. What is the young woman doing in the field?

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

4. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?

5. What is the "sickle" in line 28?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. 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.

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 compare and contrast the explicit treatment of music with the implicit treatment of poetry in "The Solitary Reaper." Support your claims 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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