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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. By which other term, besides "Captain," does the speaker address the captain of the ship?
(a) Brother.
(b) Leader.
(c) Father.
(d) Master.

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

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

6. In context, the word "fearful" in line 1 indicates that the trip was which of the following?
(a) A bad idea from the beginning.
(b) Full of frightening obstacles.
(c) A metaphor for an internal struggle.
(d) The cause of the captain's death.

7. 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 is afraid that he is in some way responsible for 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.

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

9. The poem's title and first line contain an example of which technique?
(a) Synechdoche.
(b) Personification.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Simile.

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

11. 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.

12. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?
(a) Paraprosdokian.
(b) Accumulation.
(c) Periphrasis.
(d) Understatement.

13. What type of rhyme is employed in line 20, "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won"?
(a) Eye rhyme.
(b) Near rhyme.
(c) Identical rhyme.
(d) Internal rhyme.

14. 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) Verse.
(b) Conceit.
(c) Chorus.
(d) Refrain.

15. What is a "keel" (line 4)?
(a) A part of a ship's steering mechanism, found at the back of the ship.
(b) The central and largest sail on a three-masted ship.
(c) A flat structure at the bottom of a ship, designed to add stability.
(d) A measurement of the speed a ship is traveling.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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