O Captain! My Captain!

Who is the speaker of the poem?

• the ship's captain

• a crew member

• a townsperson

• the ship's owner

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

Part A: Which word best describes the speaker's tone in the first four lines of the poem?

• mournful

• peaceful

• defeated

• proud

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

Part B: What evidence in the poem supports your answer to Part A?

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

How and why does the speaker's tone change in lines 5-8?

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

Part A: Which of the following best describe the speaker's feelings for the captain? Choose two.

• envy

• suspicion

• admiration

• indifference

• anguish

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

Part B: Cite evidence to support your answers to part A.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.7.1

Consider the difference between the speaker's emotions and those of the crowd onshore. What effect does this contrast have on the poem?

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

The author repeats the phrase "fallen cold and dead" at the end of each stanza. What does this repetition tell the reader about the narrator's point of view?

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain" is an extended metaphor and an elegy, a tribute poem, written about the death of President Abraham Lincoln just days after the Civil War ended in 1865. Who or what do the following parts of the poem symbolize? Complete the chart below.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.8.4