View a FREE sample

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

2. What is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?
(a) ABAC.
(b) ABBA.
(c) AABB.
(d) ABCB.

3. 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 having trouble accepting what has happened.
(b) The speaker is not yet aware that the captain has died.
(c) The speaker realizes that the captain is not actually dead yet.
(d) The speaker is addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.

4. Who is the speaker of the poem?
(a) A soldier.
(b) A sailor.
(c) A writer.
(d) A doctor.

5. 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)?
(a) Refrain.
(b) Verse.
(c) Conceit.
(d) Chorus.

Short Answer Questions

1. Line 6, "O the bleeding drops of red," is an example of which technique?

2. Which technique is evident in the phrase "for you the flag is flung" (line 10)?

3. Line 5, " But O heart! heart! heart!" is an example of which technique?

4. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?

5. What does it mean that the people are "exulting"?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 285 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample