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

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

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

4. Line 5, " But O heart! heart! heart!" is an example of which technique?
(a) Paradox.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Aphorism.
(d) Apostrophe.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is the most common type of metrical foot in "O Captain! My Captain!"?

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

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

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)?

(see the answer key)

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