The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?

Richmond

Shenandoah

Harper's Ferry

Washington D.C.
2 Which of the following phrases contains alliteration?

"Hidden in the cap"

"The shadow on your green"

"Slowly swaying"

"The meteor of war"
3 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Gleeful

Tragic

Serene

Eerie
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?

Four

Two

Twelve

Seven
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?

"The meteor of war!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"Shenandoah!"

"His soul goes marching on!"
6 When does the poem take place?

During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

During John Brown's execution

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown
7 What was John Brown fighting to end?

Commercial whaling

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War

Slavery
8 What are meteors associated with?

The foretelling of the future

The cost of warfare

The cruelty of slavery

The alignment of the solar system
9 What is the poem's central theme?

The military tactics of Robert E. Lee

The life and work of Frederick Douglass

The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown

The radical violence of John Brown's actions
10 What was Brown's most notable physical feature?

His long beard

His missing thumb

His shaved head

The scar on his left cheek
11 What type of stanzas are the poems made up of?

Octaves

Septet

Sestets

Couplets
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?

"The cut is on the crown"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"

"(Weird John Brown),"

"So your future veils its face,"
13 What is the poem's final image?

The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A cloud of rifle smoke

A confederate soldier

A meteor
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?

Harper's Ferry

Lawrence

Quebec

Pottowatomie Creek
16 The phrase "the meteor of war" is an example of which of the following?

Metaphor

Assonance

Hyperbole

Metonymy
17 Which of the following historical events did NOT impact John Brown?

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The caning of Charles Sumner
18 What best describes the mood of the poem?

Eulogizing and grim

Subdued and optimistic

Pensive and worried

Alarmed and afraid
19 Which of the following does NOT describe a structural similarity between the two stanzas?

The number of lines

The mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line

A description of Harper's Ferry in the first line

The mention of John Brown in the sixth line
20 Which of the following is a theme the poem explores?

Urban living

Civic duty

The law

Religion
21 Which of the following was John Brown's mocking nickname?

Wrathful John Brown

Strange John Brown

Old John Brown

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

Federalism

Abolition

Communism

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

Preston Brooks

Charles Sumner

Frederick Douglass

Ralph Waldo Emerson
24 What does the phrase "anguish none can draw" refer to?

The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War

John Brown's physical pain

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

John Brown's pain over not ending slavery
25 Why does the line "Shenandoah!" fall in the middle of both stanzas?

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

Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

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

Because the Shenandoah Valley is exactly even on both sides

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