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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In which stanza does the speaker make it clear that this event happened some time in the past?
(a) The first.
(b) The fourth.
(c) The third.
(d) The second.

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

3. 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 metaphors in the second stanza.
(d) The poem's elevated diction.

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

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

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

3. Where are "the farthest Hebrides" (line 16)?

4. From context, what is is likely meaning of "single" in line 1, "Behold her, single in the field"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the speaker's line 26 description of the reaper singing "As if her song could have no ending" reinforce the meaning of the poem's ending?

2. What are the names of the two forms of poetry that are combined in this poem, and how are they combined?

3. Summarize the action of "The Solitary Reaper."

4. To which two birds does the speaker compare the reaper, and what area of the world does the speaker associate with each?

5. Describe the meter of "The Solitary Reaper."

6. In what way do the places associated with the two birds create a dramatic contrast with one another?

7. Describe the rhyme scheme of "The Solitary Reaper."

8. What question does the speaker ask in the third stanza, and what two contrasting answers does he speculate about?

9. Describe the tense shift in "The Solitary Reaper" and explain what it reveals about the poem's narrative present.

10. Explain how the mention of "spring-time" in line 14's description of the cuckoo enhances the contrast between this image and the image of the nightingale.

(see the answer keys)

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