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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Chorus.
(c) Refrain.
(d) Conceit.

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

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

4. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?
(a) Accumulation.
(b) Periphrasis.
(c) Paraprosdokian.
(d) Understatement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

11. 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) Battle or confrontation.
(d) A thorough sorting or sifting.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?

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

3. In context, the word "fearful" in line 1 indicates that the trip was which of the following?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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