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?
"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?
Serene

Eerie

Tragic

Gleeful
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Two

Twelve

Four

Seven
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"His soul goes marching on!"

"Weird John Brown!"

"Shenandoah!"

"The meteor of war!"
6 When does the poem take place?
During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown

During John Brown's execution

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

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

The Civil War

Slavery

The Fugitive Slave Act
8 What are meteors associated with?
The cruelty of slavery

The alignment of the solar system

The cost of warfare

The foretelling of the future
9 What is the poem's central theme?
The radical violence of John Brown's actions

The life and work of Frederick Douglass

The military tactics of Robert E. Lee

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?
Sestets

Septet

Couplets

Octaves
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 cloud of rifle smoke

A meteor

A confederate soldier

The grass of the Shenandoah Valley
14 What war was Brown's rebellion and death a "portent" of?
The Civil War

The Revolutionary War

The Vietnam War

The War of 1812
15 Where was John Brown captured?
Pottowatomie Creek

Harper's Ferry

Quebec

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

Metaphor

Metonymy

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

The Fugitive Slave Act

The caning of Charles Sumner

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln
18 What best describes the mood of the poem?
Pensive and worried

Eulogizing and grim

Alarmed and afraid

Subdued and optimistic
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

A description of Harper's Ferry in the first line

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

Religion

Civic duty

Urban living
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?
Communism

Federalism

The Union

Abolition
23 Who was a noteworthy friend of John Brown?
Frederick Douglass

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charles Sumner

Preston Brooks
24 What does the phrase "anguish none can draw" refer to?
Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

The national anxiety over the encroaching Civil War

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 the Shenandoah Valley is exactly even on both sides

Because it refers to Shenandoah, Kansas

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

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