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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Solitary Reaper.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does line 3, "Reaping and singing by herself," interrupt the poem's dominant metrical pattern?
(a) It ends with a spondee.
(b) It ends with a trochee.
(c) It begins with a spondee.
(d) It begins with a trochee.

2. Which of the following most clearly communicates the speaker's admiration for the reaper's singing ability?
(a) The repeated use of exclamation points.
(b) The metaphors in the second stanza.
(c) The poem's elevated diction.
(d) The poem's nature imagery.

3. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?
(a) Honest.
(b) Alone.
(c) Simple.
(d) Unmarried.

4. What technique is used in the line "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Verbal irony.
(b) Paradox.
(c) Contraction.
(d) Litotes.

5. What is the young woman doing in the field?
(a) Pushing a cart down a path.
(b) Watching over grazing sheep.
(c) Harvesting a grain crop.
(d) Watching the speaker from the hillside.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?

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

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

4. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?

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

(see the answer key)

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