1a. How does Whitman respond to the question, "What is the grass?" Why does he want to treat the grass tenderly?
2a. What does Whitman say about dying in sections 6 and 7?
3a. What are the common and insignificant things that Whitman describes in section 31? To what does he compare each "lowly" thing?
4a. A catalog is a list of people or things. Identify what Whitman catalogs in the poem.
5a. Do you agree with Whitman that death is a force that unites people with both nature and other human beings? What validity do his ideas have?
1b. How is the grass the great equalizer?
2b. What are Whitman's hopes for his own death?
3b. What do Whitman's comparisons indicate about his feelings for commonplace things?
4b. Why does Whitman catalog these things?
5b. Compare Whitman's and Thoreau's views on the value of "lowly" things and individuality.
Elaboration. Review the definition for elaboration in Literary Tools on page 365. Besides section 6, find another example of elaboration. How does Whitman elaborate? What is the purpose of the elaboration?
Symbol. Review the definition for symbol in the Handbook of Literary Terms. Then make a chart. On the left list quotations about grass in the poem. On the right explain what the grass symbolizes. One example has been done for you.
1a. In the first stanza, what is done? What is won? What are people on shore doing? What has happened to the captain?
2a. In the second stanza, what does the speaker ask the captain to do? What does the speaker explain as "some dream"?
3a. In the last stanza, what does the speaker note about his captain? What does the speaker do as the shores exult and the bells ring?
4a. Identify contrasting details in the poem. What do these details reveal about the speaker's physical and emotional relationship to the people on shore?
5a. Evaluate whether "O Captain! My Captain!" is a fitting tribute to a slain president. Consider the historical context of the poem in formulating your response.
1b. How does the mood in stanza 1 change?
2b. What is the speaker experiencing psychologically in stanza 2?
3b. What kind of a relationship did the speaker have with the captain?
4b. Is this poem more about the way the death of a leader affects the speaker personally or more about the way the death of a leader affects a nation? What evidence would you use to defend your position?
5b. Compare the style of "O Captain! My Captain!" to Whitman's poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" on page 387. Why did Whitman choose a more formal style for "O Captain! My Captain!"? Which poem is more effective?
Elegy and Style. Review definitions of elegy and style in the Handbook of Literary Terms. In what style do you believe "O Captain! My Captain!" was written—high, middle, or low? Explain the reasoning behind your choice. Using the evidence you listed as you read the story, explain whether you think that this poem can be classified as an elegy.
Rhyme, Rhyme Scheme, and Meter. What is this poem's rhyme scheme? Using the Handbook of Literary Terms as a guide, determine the type of feet used most often in the following lines:
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting.
Why do you think Whitman chose to use more regular rhyme and rhythm in this poem than in some of his other works?
1. Imagine that Walt Whitman carried a card, or "poetic license," giving himself permission to do unconventional things. Using "Song of Myself" as a reference, write five things that you think Whitman would put on the card by completing the line "As a poet, I give myself permission to . . ."
2. An article written about Whitman's poetry in 1882 described Whitman and "O Captain! My Captain!" in the following way: "He will be known fifty years hence—if he is known at all, which we more than half-doubt—only as the author of 'My Captain,' on the whole, probably, the most stirring lyric that the Civil War produced." Imagine that you were alive when Whitman's poem was first published and that you had read this assessment of Whitman and the poem. Write an editorial, either supporting this assessment or challenging it in some way.
3. Whitman celebrated behavior that was "lawless as snowflakes." His disregard for conventional poetic subjects and forms made him unacceptable to genteel society in his day. Write the copy for a wanted poster for Walt Whitman. Include a description of his appearance and a list of the crimes for which society wants to imprison him.
Using Exclamation Points. Rewrite the following sentences, changing periods to exclamation points where needed.
1. I had an uneasy feeling about our voyage.
2. Foreseeing that the captain would die if he took another step, I cried out, "Stop."
3. What a brave man the captain was.
4. Look at the blood on the captain's uniform.
5. Let us hold a funeral procession for the captain.
Researching Whitman on the Internet. Using the Internet, locate an article written about Whitman's writing during the nineteenth century. As you conduct your online search, make a list of sites that you find particularly informative. After you read the article you have chosen, write a summary outlining its main points.
Researching Whitman's Writing:
Sources Used:
