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?

"Slowly swaying"

"The meteor of war"

"The shadow on your green"

"Hidden in the cap"
3 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Serene

Gleeful

Eerie

Tragic
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?

Four

Two

Twelve

Seven
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?

"Weird John Brown!"

"Shenandoah!"

"His soul goes marching on!"

"The meteor of war!"
6 When does the poem take place?

During John Brown's execution

During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown

During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry
7 What was John Brown fighting to end?

Commercial whaling

Slavery

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War
8 What are meteors associated with?

The cruelty of slavery

The foretelling of the future

The cost of warfare

The alignment of the solar system
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 life and work of Frederick Douglass

The military tactics of Robert E. Lee
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

Couplets

Octaves

Septet
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"

"The cut is on the crown"

"(Weird John Brown),"

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

A meteor

A confederate soldier

The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

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

The War of 1812

The Revolutionary War

The Vietnam War

The Civil War
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

Metaphor

Hyperbole

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

The caning of Charles Sumner

The Fugitive Slave Act

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Kansas-Nebraska Act
18 What best describes the mood of the poem?

Eulogizing and grim

Pensive and worried

Alarmed and afraid

Subdued and optimistic
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 number of lines

The mention of John Brown in the sixth line

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

Religion

Civic duty

The law

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

Strange John Brown

Weird John Brown

Old John Brown

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

Federalism

Communism

The Union

Abolition
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?

Frederick Douglass

Preston Brooks

Charles Sumner

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

John Brown's pain over not ending slavery

John Brown's physical pain

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

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 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.

Read the Study Guide for The Portent…

The Portent

by Herman Melville

The Portent Quiz

The Portent Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Portent

Lesson Plan for The Portent