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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which is the best interpretation of line 9, when the speaker urges "O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells"?
(a) The speaker is having trouble accepting what has happened.
(b) The speaker realizes that the captain is not actually dead yet.
(c) The speaker is addressing the captain's spirit or ghost.
(d) The speaker is not yet aware that the captain has died.

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

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

4. What does the phrase "swaying mass" refer to (line 12)?
(a) The ship.
(b) The crowd.
(c) The captain.
(d) The flag.

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

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

7. Which technique is evident in line 10, "Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills"?
(a) Anaphora.
(b) Antimetabole.
(c) Antithesis.
(d) Antistrophe.

8. 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 hopes to hide the captain's death from the crowd.
(c) He is actually asleep and only dreaming of the captain's death.
(d) He is afraid that he is in some way responsible for the captain's death.

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

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

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

12. What feature of the Captain's face does line 17 focus on?
(a) His brow.
(b) His chin.
(c) His mouth.
(d) His eyes.

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

14. What is the most accurate way to describe the poem's stanza form?
(a) Double quatrain.
(b) Double tercet.
(c) Sestet.
(d) Octave.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

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

5. Who is the author of "O Captain! my Captain!"?

(see the answer keys)

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