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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the lines "Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow / For old, unhappy, far-off things," what does "plaintive numbers" refer to (lines 18-19)?
(a) The song.
(b) Time and history.
(c) The reaper's tears.
(d) The reaper's personal experience.

2. What is the meaning of the word "Yon" in line 2, "Yon solitary Highland Lass"?
(a) Nearby, this one.
(b) You.
(c) Over there, that one.
(d) My.

3. 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 trochee.
(d) It begins with a spondee.

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

5. In the second stanza, to whom is the nightingale depicted singing?
(a) Travelers.
(b) Shepherds.
(c) The reaper.
(d) The speaker.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?

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

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

4. In line 4, "Stop here, or gently pass!" what is the grammatical mood of the words "stop" and "pass"?

5. What technique is evident in the line "Breaking the silence of the seas" (line 15)?

(see the answer key)

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