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. What does it mean that the people are "exulting"?
(a) They are drinking and celebrating.
(b) They are quietly watchful.
(c) They are crying out in grief.
(d) They are cheering excitedly.

2. 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.

3. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?
(a) Walt Whitman.
(b) William Cullen Bryant.
(c) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
(d) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

4. What feature of the Captain's face does line 17 focus on?
(a) His mouth.
(b) His chin.
(c) His brow.
(d) His eyes.

5. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?
(a) The flag and bugle.
(b) The crowd and the shore.
(c) The captain and the bells.
(d) The bouquets and wreaths.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which technique is evident in line 10, "Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills"?

3. What is the most accurate way to describe the poem's stanza form?

4. By which other term, besides "Captain," does the speaker address the captain of the ship?

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

(see the answer key)

This section contains 279 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample