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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. In context, the literal meaning of the word "rack" in line two is which of the following?
(a) Storm or upheaval.
(b) A metal rod used for hanging things.
(c) A thorough sorting or sifting.
(d) Battle or confrontation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. 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.

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

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

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

13. 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 having trouble accepting what has happened.
(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 addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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 keys)

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