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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Line 6, "O the bleeding drops of red," is an example of which technique?
(a) Oxymoron.
(b) Conceit.
(c) Metonymy.
(d) Imagery.

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

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

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

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

7. Line 4, "While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring," contains examples of which techniques?
(a) Alliteration and synecdoche.
(b) Personification and simile.
(c) Simie and alliteration.
(d) Synecdoche and personification.

8. 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.

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

10. 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) Chorus.
(c) Conceit.
(d) Refrain.

11. Which technique is evident in the phrase "for you the flag is flung" (line 10)?
(a) Assonance.
(b) Sibilance.
(c) Alliteration.
(d) Cacophony.

12. What is the most common type of metrical foot in "O Captain! My Captain!"?
(a) The trochee.
(b) The spondee.
(c) The dactyl.
(d) The iamb.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Where is the ship in the beginning of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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