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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

13. 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.

14. 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 hopes to hide the captain's death from the crowd.
(d) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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