The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?
Harper's Ferry

Richmond

Shenandoah

Washington D.C.
2 Which of the following phrases contains alliteration?
"The meteor of war"

"Hidden in the cap"

"Slowly swaying"

"The shadow on your green"
3 What word best describes the tone of the poem?
Serene

Tragic

Eerie

Gleeful
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Twelve

Seven

Four

Two
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"Shenandoah!"

"The meteor of war!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"His soul goes marching on!"
6 When does the poem take place?
During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

During John Brown's execution
7 What was John Brown fighting to end?
The Civil War

Commercial whaling

Slavery

The Fugitive Slave Act
8 What are meteors associated with?
The foretelling of the future

The cost of warfare

The alignment of the solar system

The cruelty of slavery
9 What is the poem's central theme?
The radical violence of John Brown's actions

The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown

The military tactics of Robert E. Lee

The life and work of Frederick Douglass
10 What was Brown's most notable physical feature?
His long beard

His missing thumb

The scar on his left cheek

His shaved head
11 What type of stanzas are the poems made up of?
Septet

Couplets

Octaves

Sestets
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?
"So your future veils its face,"

"(Weird John Brown),"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"

"The cut is on the crown"
13 What is the poem's final image?
The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A confederate soldier

A meteor

A cloud of rifle smoke
14 What war was Brown's rebellion and death a "portent" of?
The Vietnam War

The Revolutionary War

The Civil War

The War of 1812
15 Where was John Brown captured?
Pottowatomie Creek

Quebec

Harper's Ferry

Lawrence
16 The phrase "the meteor of war" is an example of which of the following?
Metonymy

Assonance

Hyperbole

Metaphor
17 Which of the following historical events did NOT impact John Brown?
The Fugitive Slave Act

The caning of Charles Sumner

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln
18 What best describes the mood of the poem?
Subdued and optimistic

Alarmed and afraid

Eulogizing and grim

Pensive and worried
19 Which of the following does NOT describe a structural similarity between the two stanzas?
A description of Harper's Ferry in the first line

The mention of John Brown in the sixth line

The mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line

The number of lines
20 Which of the following is a theme the poem explores?
The law

Civic duty

Religion

Urban living
21 Which of the following was John Brown's mocking nickname?
Weird John Brown

Wrathful John Brown

Strange John Brown

Old John Brown
22 What was the name of John Brown's cause?
Abolition

Federalism

Communism

The Union
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?
Preston Brooks

Frederick Douglass

Charles Sumner

Ralph Waldo Emerson
24 What does the phrase "anguish none can draw" refer to?
John Brown's pain over not ending slavery

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

John Brown's physical pain

The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War
25 Why does the line "Shenandoah!" fall in the middle of both stanzas?
Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

Because it refers to the dividing line between the North and South that determined slavery's legality

Because the Shenandoah Valley is exactly even on both sides

Because Shenandoah is a town located exactly in the middle of the U.S.

Study Guide for The Portent

The Portent study guide contains a biography of Herman Melville, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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The Portent

by Herman Melville

The Portent Quiz

The Portent Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Portent

Lesson Plan for The Portent