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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) Sestet.
(b) Double tercet.
(c) Double quatrain.
(d) Octave.

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

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

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

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

6. 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) Refrain.
(d) Chorus.

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

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

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

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

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 is having trouble accepting what has happened.
(c) The speaker is addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.
(d) The speaker realizes that the captain is not actually dead yet.

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

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

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

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

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. What type of rhyme is employed in line 20, "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won"?

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

5. Who is the speaker of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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