Oh, Captain, My Captain
This famous American poet wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" as an emotional elegy.
Who is Walt Whitman?
This African American author wrote the famous 1896 poem "We Wear the Mask."
Who is Paul Laurence Dunbar?
The poem's narrator speaks in the first person, declaring itself to be this physical geographical feature.
What is a river? (or the river of Spavinaw)
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things? Does not use "like" or "as".
What is a metaphor?
The process by which the writer reveals the personality of the character. This can be done through describing the character's thoughts, feelings, or actions.
What is characterization?
The "captain" in the poem is a famous historical metaphor for this assassinated U.S. president.
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
According to the opening line, the mask worn in the poem does this specific facial action and "lies."
What is grins?
This Cherokee poet, educator, and Indigenous rights activist penned "Songs of the Spavinaw" in the 1920s.
Who is Ruth Muskrat Bronson?
A struggle between opposing characters, forces, or emotions?
What is a conflict?
A contrast between expectation and reality - between what is said and what is meant, between what is expected and what really happens.
What is irony?
The dangerous and stormy voyage in the poem symbolizes the end of this major American conflict.
What is the American Civil War?
Beneath the smiling facade, the speakers in the poem state that they smile with these types of literal/metaphorical hearts.
What are torn and bleeding hearts?
In its "dark blue deep," where shadows creep, the river acts as this object, absorbing life’s sorrows and reflecting them back again.
What is a mirror?
To use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses.
What is imagery?
The attitude the writer takes toward the reader, a subject, or a character.
What is tone?
"O Captain! My Captain!" belongs to this specific literary genre defined as a mournful or lamenting poem, often written in honor of someone who has died.
What is an elegy?
In the third stanza, the speaker shifts from addressing the watching world to crying out to this religious figure.
Who is Christ (or God)?
When the river runs shallow, its waters dimple, sparkle, and ripple like songs that this specific person would sing in the moonlight.
What is a lover?
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word such as "like" or "as".
What is a simile?
A person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself (dove = peace, heart = love).
What is symbolism?
In the poem's final lines, while the crowds are exulting and bells are ringing, the speaker is walking with mournful tread on this specific part of the vessel where the leader lies cold and dead.
What is the deck?
The speakers mention that the mask hides their actual feelings while paying this "subtle" poetic fee.
What is human guile?
As the river moves forth toward this cardinal direction, it shifts its tune to sing of the hurry and power of men.
What is North?
The time and place in which the action occurs in the story.
What is setting?
How the narrator plays a role in what readers see and hear in the story.
1st person: "I" or "we"
2nd person: "you"
3rd person: only hear one character's thoughts
3rd person omniscient: hear all the characters' thoughts
What is point of view?