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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. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?

2. What does the phrase "swaying mass" refer to (line 12)?

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

4. What type of rhyme is employed in line 20, "From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won"?

5. What is a "keel" (line 4)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

Go online and do some research about Whitman's beliefs about the relationship of music and poetry. Write an essay in which you first explain what these beliefs were and then apply them to your reading of "O Captain! My Captain!" Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem to support your observations. Be sure to cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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