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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 is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?

2. Which is the best interpretation of line 9, when the speaker urges "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells"?

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

4. In context, the word "fearful" in line 1 indicates that the trip was which of the following?

5. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

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 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.

(see the answer keys)

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