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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 begins with a spondee.
(c) It ends with a trochee.
(d) It begins with a trochee.

2. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?
(a) Cacophony.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Metonymy.
(d) Antanaclasis.

3. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?
(a) The Hebrides.
(b) Scotland.
(c) Wales.
(d) Ireland.

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

5. 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 nature imagery.
(d) The poem's elevated diction.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which is the best interpretation of line 6's reference to "a melancholy strain"?

3. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?

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

5. What is the stanzaic form of "The Solitary Reaper"?

(see the answer key)

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