View a FREE sample

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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 past and present in "The Solitary Reaper." Be sure to defend your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Wordsworth wrote in Preface to the Lyrical Ballads that poetry emerges from the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" that are "recollected in tranquility." Write an essay that demonstrates how these ideas are reflected in "The Solitary Reaper." Be sure to support your claims with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,033 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample