The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?
Washington D.C.

Shenandoah

Richmond

Harper's Ferry
2 Which of the following phrases contains alliteration?
"Slowly swaying"

"Hidden in the cap"

"The meteor of war"

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

Serene

Eerie

Gleeful
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Four

Seven

Two

Twelve
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"His soul goes marching on!"

"Shenandoah!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"The meteor of war!"
6 When does the poem take place?
During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

During John Brown's execution

During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

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

The Fugitive Slave Act

Slavery

The Civil War
8 What are meteors associated with?
The foretelling of the future

The alignment of the solar system

The cruelty of slavery

The cost of warfare
9 What is the poem's central theme?
The military tactics of Robert E. Lee

The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown

The life and work of Frederick Douglass

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

His long beard

His missing thumb

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

Octaves

Couplets

Septet
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?
"The cut is on the crown"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"

"So your future veils its face,"

"(Weird John Brown),"
13 What is the poem's final image?
A meteor

A cloud of rifle smoke

The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A confederate soldier
14 What war was Brown's rebellion and death a "portent" of?
The Vietnam War

The War of 1812

The Revolutionary War

The Civil War
15 Where was John Brown captured?
Quebec

Lawrence

Pottowatomie Creek

Harper's Ferry
16 The phrase "the meteor of war" is an example of which of the following?
Assonance

Metonymy

Hyperbole

Metaphor
17 Which of the following historical events did NOT impact John Brown?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act

The caning of Charles Sumner

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Fugitive Slave Act
18 What best describes the mood of the poem?
Eulogizing and grim

Alarmed and afraid

Subdued and optimistic

Pensive and worried
19 Which of the following does NOT describe a structural similarity between the two stanzas?
The mention of John Brown in the sixth line

A description of Harper's Ferry in the first line

The number of lines

The mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line
20 Which of the following is a theme the poem explores?
The law

Urban living

Civic duty

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

Weird John Brown

Strange John Brown

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

Communism

Federalism

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Frederick Douglass

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

John Brown's physical pain

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War
25 Why does the line "Shenandoah!" fall in the middle of both stanzas?
Because the Shenandoah Valley is exactly even on both sides

Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

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

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