View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. 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) The cause of the captain's death.
(d) A bad idea from the beginning.

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

Short Answer 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)?

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

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

4. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?

5. What is the most common type of metrical foot in "O Captain! My Captain!"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 686 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample