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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?

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

3. Line 6, "O the bleeding drops of red," is an example of which technique?

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)?

5. Which technique is evident in the phrase "for you the flag is flung" (line 10)?

(see the answer keys)

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