The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?

Washington D.C.

Harper's Ferry

Shenandoah

Richmond
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?

Tragic

Serene

Eerie

Gleeful
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?

Seven

Four

Two

Twelve
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?

"Shenandoah!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"His soul goes marching on!"

"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 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?

The Fugitive Slave Act

Commercial whaling

Slavery

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 military tactics of Robert E. Lee

The enduring (and predictive) legacy of John Brown

The radical violence of John Brown's actions

The life and work of Frederick Douglass
10 What was Brown's most notable physical feature?

His shaved head

The scar on his left cheek

His long beard

His missing thumb
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,"

"(Weird John Brown),"

"The cut is on the crown"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"
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 War of 1812

The Vietnam War

The Civil War

The Revolutionary War
15 Where was John Brown captured?

Harper's Ferry

Lawrence

Quebec

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

Metaphor

Hyperbole

Assonance

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

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Kansas-Nebraska 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?

The mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line

The mention of John Brown in the sixth line

The number of lines

A description of Harper's Ferry in the first line
20 Which of the following is a theme the poem explores?

Civic duty

Religion

The law

Urban living
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?

Federalism

Communism

The Union

Abolition
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?

Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Frederick Douglass
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 pain over not ending slavery

John Brown's physical pain
25 Why does the line "Shenandoah!" fall in the middle of both stanzas?

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.

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