The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?
Shenandoah

Harper's Ferry

Richmond

Washington D.C.
2 Which of the following phrases contains alliteration?
"The shadow on your green"

"Slowly swaying"

"Hidden in the cap"

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

Tragic

Eerie

Serene
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Two

Four

Seven

Twelve
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"Weird John Brown!"

"The meteor of war!"

"His soul goes marching on!"

"Shenandoah!"
6 When does the poem take place?
During John Brown's execution

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown

During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation
7 What was John Brown fighting to end?
Slavery

Commercial whaling

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War
8 What are meteors associated with?
The alignment of the solar system

The cost of warfare

The foretelling of the future

The cruelty of slavery
9 What is the poem's central theme?
The life and work of Frederick Douglass

The military tactics of Robert E. Lee

The radical violence of John Brown's actions

The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown
10 What was Brown's most notable physical feature?
His shaved head

His missing thumb

The scar on his left cheek

His long beard
11 What type of stanzas are the poems made up of?
Octaves

Septet

Couplets

Sestets
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?
The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A meteor

A confederate soldier

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

The Vietnam War

The Revolutionary War

The War of 1812
15 Where was John Brown captured?
Harper's Ferry

Quebec

Lawrence

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

Hyperbole

Metaphor

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

The Fugitive Slave Act

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

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

Eulogizing and grim

Pensive and worried

Alarmed and afraid
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

Urban living

Civic duty

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

Wrathful John Brown

Strange John Brown

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

Federalism

The Union

Abolition
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Frederick Douglass

Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks
24 What does the phrase "anguish none can draw" refer to?
John Brown's physical pain

John Brown's pain over not ending slavery

The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown
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 the Shenandoah Valley is exactly even on both sides

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

Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

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