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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. 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) Identical rhyme.
(d) Near rhyme.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does the phrase "swaying mass" refer to (line 12)?

3. Where is the ship in the beginning of the poem?

4. What does it mean that the people are "exulting"?

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)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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