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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the metaphors in lines 9-12 and 13-16 have in common?
(a) The both compare music to a geographical location.
(b) They both compare the speaker to a traveler.
(c) They both compare the reaper to a bird.
(d) They both compare traveling to a specific time of year.

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

3. 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 reaper's personal experience.
(b) The reaper's tears.
(c) The song.
(d) Time and history.

4. What reasonable inference can be made about the reaper from line 17, "Will no one tell me what she sings?"?
(a) She is singing an old folk song that the speaker does not know the title of.
(b) She is too far away to be heard clearly.
(c) She is singing in a language the speaker does not understand.
(d) She is singing a song that she has made up herself.

5. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?
(a) Scotland.
(b) Russia.
(c) Chile.
(d) Australia.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the meaning of the word "lay" in the line "Or is it some more humble lay" (line 21)?

2. The characterization of the woman as a "Highland Lass" indicates that she is a young woman from what area?

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

(see the answer key)

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