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"

"The meteor of war"

"Hidden in the cap"

"Slowly swaying"
3 What word best describes the tone of the poem?
Serene

Tragic

Gleeful

Eerie
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Two

Twelve

Seven

Four
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 Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

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?
Slavery

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War

Commercial whaling
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 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?
The scar on his left cheek

His missing thumb

His long beard

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

Septet

Sestets

Octaves
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?
"So your future veils its face,"

"The cut is on the crown"

"(Weird John Brown),"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"
13 What is the poem's final image?
The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A cloud of rifle smoke

A meteor

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

The Vietnam War

The War of 1812

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

Quebec

Pottowatomie Creek

Lawrence
16 The phrase "the meteor of war" is an example of which of the following?
Metaphor

Hyperbole

Metonymy

Assonance
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?
Pensive and worried

Subdued and optimistic

Alarmed and afraid

Eulogizing and grim
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 mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line

The number of lines
20 Which of the following is a theme the poem explores?
The law

Civic duty

Urban living

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

Wrathful John Brown

Weird John Brown

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

The Union

Federalism

Communism
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?
Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks

Frederick Douglass

Ralph Waldo Emerson
24 What does the phrase "anguish none can draw" refer to?
The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

John Brown's physical pain

John Brown's pain over not ending slavery
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 Shenandoah, Kansas

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

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