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

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

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

5. What is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

How does Whitman's use of musical devices support the poem's theme? Write an essay that identifies where Whitman uses assonance, consonance, and alliteration and explains the effect these devices create. Then, tie Whitman's use of these devices to the poem's larger thematic concerns.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that considers the following: what message does the poem's central conceit send about the necessity of any one individual--even a president--to a collective effort like the preservation of the Union? Offer evidence from the poem to support your claims, and if you use outside sources for information related to the poem's historical background, be sure to cite these in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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