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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?
(a) He has not fully accepted the captain's death.
(b) He hopes to hide the captain's death from the crowd.
(c) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.
(d) He is afraid that he is in some way responsible for the captain's death.

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

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

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

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

15. 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) A metaphor for an internal struggle.
(c) Full of frightening obstacles.
(d) The cause of the captain's death.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?

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 literal meaning of the word "rack" in line two is which of the following?

(see the answer keys)

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