View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "O Captain! My Captain!" lines 1-24.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a "keel" (line 4)?
(a) A flat structure at the bottom of a ship, designed to add stability.
(b) A measurement of the speed a ship is traveling.
(c) A part of a ship's steering mechanism, found at the back of the ship.
(d) The central and largest sail on a three-masted ship.

2. 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)?
(a) Chorus.
(b) Refrain.
(c) Verse.
(d) Conceit.

3. What does it mean that the people are "exulting"?
(a) They are crying out in grief.
(b) They are drinking and celebrating.
(c) They are quietly watchful.
(d) They are cheering excitedly.

4. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?
(a) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
(b) Walt Whitman.
(c) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
(d) William Cullen Bryant.

5. Line 6, "O the bleeding drops of red," is an example of which technique?
(a) Oxymoron.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Imagery.
(d) Conceit.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Which technique is evident in line 10, "Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills"?

4. By which other term, besides "Captain," does the speaker address the captain of the ship?

5. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 327 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample