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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "O Captain! My Captain!" lines 1-24.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is the best interpretation of line 9, when the speaker urges "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells"?
(a) The speaker is not yet aware that the captain has died.
(b) The speaker realizes that the captain is not actually dead yet.
(c) The speaker is addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.
(d) The speaker is having trouble accepting what has happened.

2. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?
(a) He has not fully accepted the captain's death.
(b) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.
(c) He is afraid that he is in some way responsible for the captain's death.
(d) He hopes to hide the captain's death from the crowd.

3. Which technique is evident in line 10, "Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills"?
(a) Anaphora.
(b) Antistrophe.
(c) Antimetabole.
(d) Antithesis.

4. What is the most accurate way to describe the poem's stanza form?
(a) Double tercet.
(b) Sestet.
(c) Octave.
(d) Double quatrain.

5. What is the most common type of metrical foot in "O Captain! My Captain!"?
(a) The iamb.
(b) The trochee.
(c) The spondee.
(d) The dactyl.

Short Answer Questions

1. In context, the literal meaning of the word "rack" in line two is which of the following?

2. The poem's title and first line contain an example of which technique?

3. What is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?

4. Which term describes the poem's repeated use of the phrases "O Captain! My Captain!" (lines 1 and 9) and "fallen cold and dead" (lines 8, 16, and 24)?

5. Line 4, "While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring," contains examples of which techniques?

(see the answer key)

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