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

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

3. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?
(a) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.
(b) He has not fully accepted 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.

4. What does the phrase "swaying mass" refer to (line 12)?
(a) The crowd.
(b) The ship.
(c) The captain.
(d) The flag.

5. Where is the ship in the beginning of the poem?
(a) Just coming into port.
(b) Just leaving the port.
(c) Docked in the port.
(d) On the open sea.

Short Answer Questions

1. What feature of the Captain's face does line 17 focus on?

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

3. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?

4. What type of rhyme is employed in line 20, "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won"?

5. In context, the word "fearful" in line 1 indicates that the trip was which of the following?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 307 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample