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. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?

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

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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 2

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 665 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample