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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 5 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What feature of the Captain's face does line 17 focus on?
2. 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)?
3. What type of rhyme is employed in line 20, "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won"?
4. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?
5. In context, the literal meaning of the word "rack" in line two is which of the following?
Short Essay Questions
1. What ironic contrast do the poem's images highlight?
2. What elements of the poem's diction establish a warm and personal relationship between the speaker and the captain?
3. Describe the form of "O Captain! My Captain!"
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?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Go online and read Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Autumn: A Dirge." Write an essay comparing and contrasting the mournful and song-like features of this poem with those in "O Captain! My Captain!" Offer both quoted and paraphrased evidence from both poems in defense of your observations.
Essay Topic 2
Go online and read Whitman's poem "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d." This poem was also written to memorialize President Lincoln. Write an essay that compares and contrasts the themes of this poem and that of "O Captain! My Captain!" Support your assertions about each poem's theme with evidence from the text of both poems.
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay in which you propose and defend a statement of theme for "O Captain! My Captain!" that takes into account key features of the poem: the celebration of Lincoln and grief over his death, the interrelated nature of victory and loss, and the relationship between the individual and the group. Offer both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem in support of your claims.
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This section contains 707 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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