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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. 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.

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

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

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

7. 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 is actually asleep and only dreaming of 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.

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

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

10. 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 is addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.
(c) The speaker realizes that the captain is not actually dead yet.
(d) The speaker is not yet aware that the captain has died.

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the phrase "swaying mass" refer to (line 12)?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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