The Portent Quizzes

The Portent Quiz

1 What is the setting of the poem?
Richmond

Harper's Ferry

Washington D.C.

Shenandoah
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

Tragic

Eerie

Gleeful
4 How many stanzas does the poem have?
Twelve

Seven

Two

Four
5 What phrase is exclaimed twice in the poem?
"Weird John Brown!"

"The meteor of war!"

"His soul goes marching on!"

"Shenandoah!"
6 When does the poem take place?
During Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

During Robert E. Lee's capture of John Brown

During John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry

During John Brown's execution
7 What was John Brown fighting to end?
Slavery

Commercial whaling

The Fugitive Slave Act

The Civil War
8 What are meteors associated with?
The cost of warfare

The foretelling of the future

The cruelty of slavery

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

The scar on his left cheek

His missing thumb
11 What type of stanzas are the poems made up of?
Couplets

Octaves

Septet

Sestets
12 Which of the follow lines contains personification?
"(Weird John Brown),"

"So your future veils its face,"

"The cut is on the crown"

"Gaunt the shadow on your green,"
13 What is the poem's final image?
A cloud of rifle smoke

The grass of the Shenandoah Valley

A confederate soldier

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

The War of 1812

The Civil War

The Vietnam War
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

Metonymy

Assonance

Metaphor
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?
Subdued and optimistic

Pensive and worried

Alarmed and afraid

Eulogizing and grim
19 Which of the following does NOT describe a structural similarity between the two stanzas?
The mention of Shenandoah in the fourth line

A description of Harper's Ferry in the first 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

Religion

The law

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

Old John Brown

Weird John Brown

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

Federalism

The Union

Communism
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 physical pain

Henry David Thoreau's memorial for John Brown

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 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 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