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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the speaker of the poem?

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

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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