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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Where is the ship in the beginning of the poem?
(a) Docked in the port.
(b) Just leaving the port.
(c) Just coming into port.
(d) On the open sea.

3. What is the most common type of metrical foot in "O Captain! My Captain!"?
(a) The trochee.
(b) The dactyl.
(c) The iamb.
(d) The spondee.

4. The poem's title and first line contain an example of which technique?
(a) Simile.
(b) Synechdoche.
(c) Personification.
(d) Apostrophe.

5. In context, the word "fearful" in line 1 indicates that the trip was which of the following?
(a) A metaphor for an internal struggle.
(b) The cause of the captain's death.
(c) Full of frightening obstacles.
(d) A bad idea from the beginning.

6. What is the rhyme pattern of the first four lines of each stanza?
(a) ABCB.
(b) AABB.
(c) ABBA.
(d) ABAC.

7. 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 cheering excitedly.
(d) They are quietly watchful.

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

9. Which details in the second stanza evoke a patriotic occasion?
(a) The crowd and the shore.
(b) The captain and the bells.
(c) The flag and bugle.
(d) The bouquets and wreaths.

10. 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) Verse.
(b) Refrain.
(c) Chorus.
(d) Conceit.

11. By which other term, besides "Captain," does the speaker address the captain of the ship?
(a) Brother.
(b) Leader.
(c) Master.
(d) Father.

12. Who is the speaker of the poem?
(a) A writer.
(b) A doctor.
(c) A soldier.
(d) A sailor.

13. In context, the literal meaning of the word "rack" in line two is which of the following?
(a) A thorough sorting or sifting.
(b) Storm or upheaval.
(c) A metal rod used for hanging things.
(d) Battle or confrontation.

14. Which technique is evident in the phrase "for you the flag is flung" (line 10)?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Sibilance.
(c) Assonance.
(d) Cacophony.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Line 4, "While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring," contains examples of which techniques?

2. What is the most accurate way to describe the poem's stanza form?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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