O Captain My Captain LOOK OVER YOUR VOCABULARY

O Captain! My Captain! LOOK OVER YOUR VOCABULARY WORDS BEFORE YOUR QUICK CHECK!

O Captain! My Captain! Analyzing Walt Whitman’s Famous Poem

O Captain! My Captain! Define allegory. Give an example as a part of your definition.

Title What do you think the poem will be about? (Your answers will all be different. )

Words we don’t know… sought (2): find exulted (3): full of joy trills (11): musical tones keel (5): timber on bottom of ship vessel (5): ship bugle(10): horn--trumpet voyage (22): journey by water

Paraphrase The ship has weathered the storm & everyone is happy. But the speaker finds the Captain bleeding on the deck. The speaker urges the Captain to hear the celebration, which is for him. But the Captain is unable to. The ship has safely landed, but the Captain is dead.

Paraphrase and Allegory The captain is ____. The ship is_______. The voyage/trip is_______. The prize is _______.

Paraphrase and Allegory Abraham Lincoln is the captain of the ship(US) and the voyage (Civil War) is finally over. Although the United States has weathered many difficult times and lost many citizens, the prize (ending slavery and uniting the country) is “won. ” We “won” at the loss (assassination) of Lincoln.

Connotation Exulting & rise up are examples of a celebratory feeling. Bleeding drops of red, cold & dead, pale & still, & mournful are examples of sadness & loss.

Attitude The speaker goes back & forth between joyful (that the ship has arrived safely) & mournful (that the Captain is dead).

Shift There is no shift in speaker, but a shift in attitude. In the first two stanzas, opening lines are happy & last four lines are sad. The final stanza is full of grief.