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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. The list of ways the crowd is celebrating the arrival of the ship in lines 9-12 is an example of which technique?
(a) Understatement.
(b) Paraprosdokian.
(c) Accumulation.
(d) Periphrasis.

2. In the second quatrain of the second stanza, what becomes clear about the speaker's state of mind?
(a) He has not fully accepted the captain's death.
(b) He is afraid that he is in some way responsible for the captain's death.
(c) He hopes to hide the captain's death from the crowd.
(d) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where is the ship in the beginning of the poem?

3. Line 5, " But O heart! heart! heart!" is an example of which technique?

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

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

(see the answer key)

This section contains 295 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample