The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

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

Shenandoah

Richmond

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

"The shadow on your green"

"Slowly swaying"

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

Gleeful

Eerie

Serene
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Twelve

Two

Four

Seven
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"The meteor of war!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"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?
Commercial whaling

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War

Slavery
8 What are meteors associated with?
The cost of warfare

The alignment of the solar system

The foretelling of the future

The cruelty of slavery
9 What is the poem's central theme?
The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown

The radical violence of John Brown's actions

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

The scar on his left cheek

His missing thumb

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

Couplets

Sestets

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

"(Weird John Brown),"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"

"So your future veils its face,"
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 Civil War

The Revolutionary War

The War of 1812
15 Where was John Brown captured?
Lawrence

Harper's Ferry

Quebec

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

Assonance

Metaphor

Metonymy
17 Which of the following historical events did NOT impact John Brown?
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The caning of Charles Sumner

The Fugitive Slave Act

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

Subdued and optimistic

Pensive and worried

Eulogizing and grim
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 Shenandoah in the fourth line

The number of lines

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

Urban living

The law

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

Strange John Brown

Weird John Brown

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

Federalism

Abolition

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?
Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

John Brown's physical pain

John Brown's pain over not ending slavery

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 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.

Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

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