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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. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?

3. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?

4. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?

5. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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.

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

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

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

7. 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?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you respond analytically to the following question: why is the reaper's song so sad? Be sure to support your claims with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the cultural perspective revealed by the images of the birds in the second stanza. Be sure to support your ideas with textual evidence.

(see the answer keys)

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