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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

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

3. The poem's title and first line contain an example of which technique?
(a) Simile.
(b) Synechdoche.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Personification.

4. 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) A metaphor for an internal struggle.
(c) A bad idea from the beginning.
(d) Full of frightening obstacles.

5. 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) Refrain.
(b) Chorus.
(c) Conceit.
(d) Verse.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?

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

4. Which is the best interpretation of line 9, when the speaker urges "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What ironic contrast do the poem's images highlight?

2. What evidence is there that the speaker is struggling to understand and process the captain's death?

3. Describe the form of "O Captain! My Captain!"

4. What elements of the poem's diction establish a warm and personal relationship between the speaker and the captain?

5. Explain the allegorical nature of the poem's central conceit.

(see the answer keys)

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