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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which stanza could be reasonably called the most positive in tone?

2. What technique is employed in lines 7 and 8, "O listen! for the Vale profound / Is overflowing with the sound"?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

6. 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.

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 meter of "The Solitary Reaper."

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the cultural perspective revealed by the images of the birds in the second stanza. Be sure to support your ideas with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the relationship of past and present in "The Solitary Reaper." Be sure to defend your assertions with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the significance of the action of "reaping" in "The Solitary Reaper." Support your assertions with evidence from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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