View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 5 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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)

This section contains 747 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample