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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. Line 4, "While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring," contains examples of which techniques?
2. What is the most accurate way to describe the poem's stanza form?
3. 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)?
4. What does it mean that the people are "exulting"?
5. By which other term, besides "Captain," does the speaker address the captain of the ship?
Short Essay Questions
1. What ironic contrast do the poem's images highlight?
2. Explain the allegorical nature of the poem's central conceit.
3. What evidence is there that the speaker is struggling to understand and process the captain's death?
4. Describe the form of "O Captain! My Captain!"
5. What elements of the poem's diction establish a warm and personal relationship between the speaker and the captain?
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
Write an essay that takes and defends a position about how the poem characterizes its own speaker--and by extension, how it characterizes the individual American. Offer evidence drawn from the poem's diction, figurative language, details, imagery, and structure as you defend your claims.
Essay Topic 3
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.
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This section contains 656 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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