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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is the best interpretation of line 6's reference to "a melancholy strain"?
(a) Hard work.
(b) Persistent pain.
(c) A difficult burden.
(d) A sad song.

2. Which line uses deliberate redundancy for emphasis?
(a) "Stop here, or gently pass" (line 4).
(b) "I listened, motionless and still" (line 29).
(c) "For old, unhappy, far-off things" (line 19).
(d) "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1).

3. Who is the author of "The Solitary Reaper"?
(a) John Keats.
(b) William Wordsworth.
(c) William Blake.
(d) Percy Shelley.

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

5. What technique is evident in the poem's opening line, "Behold her, single in the field" (line 1)?
(a) Apostrophe.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Apology.
(d) Analogy.

6. What is the "sickle" in line 28?
(a) A mark dyed into wool to track sheep.
(b) A sharp cutting tool.
(c) A tied sheaf of grain.
(d) A handle used to pull a cart.

7. What technique is used in phrases like "the Vale profound" (line 7) and "A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard" (line 13)?
(a) Symbolism.
(b) Simile.
(c) Imagery.
(d) Inversion.

8. 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"?
(a) The contraction in line 25 creates a second line of trimeter in this stanza, emphasizing the musicality of the song.
(b) The feminine ending of line 26 emphasizes the idea of something that does not end when it is expected to.
(c) Line 25 begins with a dactyl, emphasizing the importance of the content of the reaper's song.
(d) Line 26 has four metrical feet instead of the expected three, creating a feeling of "lingering."

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

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

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

12. 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.

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

14. 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 poem's nature imagery.
(c) The poem's elevated diction.
(d) The metaphors in the second stanza.

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

Short Answer 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)?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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