StudySync Lesson Plan
O Captain! My Captain!
Objectives
1.
Engage students in the figurative language, imagery, diction, sounds and themes of “O
Captain! My Captain!” so they may develop an understanding of the poem’s meaning and
are prepared to discuss and write, both critically and creatively, about the poem’s
suggestions regarding the nature of mourning.
2. Practice and reinforce the following Grade 8 ELA Common Core Standards for reading
literature, writing, and speaking and listening:
READING: LITERATURE – RL.8.1-5, 7, 10
WRITING – W.8.1-10
SPEAKING AND LISTENING – SL.8.1-6
Time
130 minutes (with up to an additional 250 minutes of extension possibilities)
Materials
SyncTV Premium Lesson on Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”
Overview
Considered by many to be the grandfather of American poetry, “O Captain! My Captain” is
Whitman’s famous eulogy to President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in April
of 1865, mere days after the end of the U.S Civil War. Whitman’s poem is an extended metaphor
positing the assassinated president as a fallen captain of a sea vessel. The poem captures rich
themes of national mourning and patriotism. Close inspection of the poem will allow students to
note its use of poetic devices as they prepare to think, discuss, and write textually-rooted
responses to the piece, consistent with the Common Core Standards for the middle school
grades.
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
Background (10 minutes)
1.
Watch the Preview (SL.8.1-2). As a group, watch the video preview of the premium lesson.
After viewing, use the following questions to spur a discussion:
a. Based on the preview, what is the overall tone of the poem? Brainstorm as many
words as possible that could be used to describe the tone or mood that this
preview elicits in its description of “O Captain! My Captain!”
b. What image or images stand out for you and why? What words come to mind after
seeing the images and listening to the music in the preview? Can you make any
guesses about what the poem will be like, based on your knowledge of what you
saw in the preview, and the history it referenced?
c. What do you know about poetry or literature written at this time? Can you think of
any other works written in the mid-19th century? Are there any common themes or
literary movements? How did work in the mid-19th century differ from that which
came before?
Extension (additional 70 minutes)
d. Describe (ELL). Ask English Language Learners to write one word to describe
each image in the preview or convey a feeling it produces. Discuss these words
as a class, using this activity as a basis for vocabulary building.
e. Write Creatively (W.8.3-6). Watch the preview again, this time pausing on one of
the images. Ask students to use this image to inspire a short story or poem.
Students can complete the assignment as a quick-write activity and then expand it
through the writing process, if they wish.
f.
Share (SL.8.4). Ask for any students who would like to share their narratives to do
so. If the students are reluctant to share, you might share your own to help break
the ice. What are the connotations of this particular image? How are the shared
stories similar? How are they different?
g. Context (W.8.7 and SL.8.1-2). Have students visit
http://www.history.com/topics/abraham-lincoln-assassination and watch the short
videos about Lincoln and his assassination, providing valuable context for the
poem they’re about to read. Have students note at least three surprising things
they learned from the videos that they didn’t already know.
h. Review (SL.8.1 and W.8.7). Make sure students are up-to-speed on definitions of
basic poetic terms and devices, reviewing and/or asking students to research
these terms and devices as a class if necessary. Some suggested terms relevant
for this poem: alliteration, anaphora, adynation, apostrophe, onomatopoeia,
stanza, metaphor, and any others you can think of.
Engaging the Text (120 minutes)
2. Read the Text (30 minutes)
a. Read and Annotate (RL.8.1-4). Ask students to read the introduction and the poem
“O Captain! My Captain!” Be sure to give them enough time to both read and
annotate the text. If your classroom has a projector, you may want to model notetaking skills by reading and annotating the first stanza as a class. If students are
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
completing this as a homework assignment, ask them to write any questions they
have into the annotation tool–these questions are visible to you after the students
submit their writing assignments or beforehand if you use the “Mimic” function to
access the students’ accounts.
b. Read. Ask the students to read the introduction and have a student volunteer to
read the poem aloud. Each student should have the poem in front of them and, if
possible, it should also be projected on the board.
c. “What do you notice?” After hearing it for the first time, ask the students, “What
do you notice?” This should be a free-form discussion; anything that attracts
attention in the poem is worth mentioning. If the conversation is having a hard
time getting started, tell the students to pretend you’ve taken the poem away from
them after the first reading and you just want to know what they remember about
it.
d. Read again with a pencil. Have another student read the poem aloud a second
time, or use the audio feature on the site. This time, students should underline any
image, phrase, or line that appeals to them. Anything goes: something that sounds
nice, a phrase that rings true, or something that is clearly stated. Ask that they
underline at least three things as they listen to the poem. At the same time, they
should circle any words or phrases that are unfamiliar, to clarify later.
e. Ask questions. Each student should write at least two specific questions they
have about this poem.
Extension (additional 25 minutes)
f. Listen and Discuss (SL.8.1-2). As a class, listen to the audio reading of the text.
Ask students to use context clues to define the key terms from the glossary. Note
the place or situation that one might hear a particular word (e.g., “sailors use this
word to refer to winds…”). As a group, work to define any other unclear terms or
ideas not listed in the glossary.
g. Comprehend (RL.8.1-4, 10). Have students complete the multiple-choice questions.
Collect papers or discuss answers as a class.
h. Research and Discuss (W.8.7, 9 and SL.8.4). What does the term “Pyrrhic victory”
mean? Define this term for the class and discuss its relevance in a discussion
about “O Captain! My Captain!” Or, for a homework assignment, have students
research this term and its historical context and identify at least one example of
this term, from pop culture, literature, etc. Students should come to class prepared
to present and discuss their examples.
3. Watch SyncTV (30 minutes)
a. Watch. Either watch the SyncTV discussion as a class or ask students to watch it
on their individual computers.
b. Focus (SL.8.1-2 and RL.8.1-2, 4). Pay attention to the portion of the episode from
0:34-0:42 and 1:08-2:25 as the SyncTV students discuss the central metaphors in
the poem and their accompanying emotional resonance. Model the various points
of discussion, as well as how the SyncTV students arrive at their points and offer
evidence for their assertions.
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
c. Focus (SL.8.1-2 and RL.8.1, 4). Following the discussion, have the students outline
the tonal shifts and shifts in poetic devices among the three stanzas of the poem.
Use the discussion from the 4:20-6:00 mark to model some important shifts, and
have students add any additional points to the discussion.
d. Focus (SL.8.1-2 and RL.8.1-2, 4). Finally, consider the discussion from 2:53-3:13 and
4:48-5:28 wherein the students discuss the poem’s use of the figures of speech
apostrophe and anaphora. Try to refine the students’ notion of these devices
beyond the SyncTV students’ initial observations. Speculate on the deeper
meaning of some of the devices in the poem.
e. Discuss (SL.8.1-5 and RL.8.1-4, 10). After watching the model discussion, have a
conversation with the class about the ideas discussed in the SyncTV episode.
What new thoughts do they have after hearing the students' discussion? Next,
divide students into small groups (3-4 students). Move around the room
monitoring groups as students follow the SyncTV episode as a model to discuss
some of the following questions:
i. How does Whitman render the loss of Lincoln as a loss personal to the
speaker of the poem? What are some of the words, phrases and poetic
devices that give the reader a feeling of loss and mourning?
ii. How does Whitman render the loss of Lincoln as a loss of national
relevance and resonance? Again, examine the words, phrases and poetic
devices used by Whitman to create a sense of reverence towards the
fallen leader.
iii. What sort of audience does the poem presuppose? Does it feel inclusive
of women, recently freed slaves, or recently revolting Southerners? Cite
specific examples that support your opinion.
iv. What do you imagine happens to the speaker of the poem afterward? How
does he go forward without his captain/father figure?
v. Discuss how Whitman’s tone and language progresses throughout “O
Captain! My Captain!” How does this progression and shift add a deeper
meaning to the poem? What does it tell you about the range of emotions
both Whitman and his country are experiencing?
vi. What are the predominant emotions Whitman is experiencing in this poem
and how do they contradict each other? Is it possible to feel great victory
and loss at the same time? How does Whitman navigate this emotional
terrain?
Extension (additional 80 minutes)
f.
Categorize (RL.8.1, 4 and W.8.9). In the SyncTV episode, the students point out
that there are images and words that evoke joy as well as others that give us the
sense of sorrow in the poem. Make two lists that gather all the words and images
that belong to each category. Discuss the connotations of all of these different
words, and how word choice can affect a poem’s meaning and purpose.
g. Read and Compare (RL.8.1, 4-5 and W.8.4, 9). Have students read W.H. Auden’s
“Elegy for JFK,” and in a short written response, ask them to compare and contrast
this poem with Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” Discuss the two poems in
small groups or as a class, creating two lists: one list of the similarities between
the two poems and another list of the differences. Analyze this quote from
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
Auden’s poem: “When a just man dies, lamentation and praise, sorrow and joy, are
one.” How does this relate to Whitman’s poem?
h. Personal Response (W.8.4, 9). Ask students to respond to the following prompt in
a personal journal entry: Have you ever felt a close personal connection to a
leader, celebrity or other public figure? If they died during your life, how did you
feel when it happened? Or, how do you think you would feel if something bad
were to happen to them? Compare your own reaction, real or imagined, with
Whitman’s.
i.
Create (W.8.9 and SL.8.1-2, 4-6). For a longer group project, have students create
a short animated or live-action movie to accompany their own dramatic readings
of “O Captain! My Captain!” using iMovie (or similar digital film program). Share
these videos as a class. If groups are reluctant to share, you might consider
putting together your own short movie.
4. Think (10 minutes)
a. Respond (W.8.1, 4). Ask students to read the “Think” questions, watch the
corresponding video clips, and respond to the questions, either in class or for
homework.
5. Write (50 minutes)
a. Discuss (SL.8.1). Read the prompt you have chosen for students, and then solicit
questions regarding the prompt or the assignment expectations. Whichever
prompt you have chosen, make sure you are clear about the assignment
expectations and the rubric by which you and the other students will be evaluating
them.
b. Organize (RL.8.1-4, 10 and W.8.1-2, 5). Ask students to go back and annotate the
text with the prompt in mind. They should be organizing their thoughts and the
points they’ll address in their writing as they make annotations. If you’ve worked
on outlining or other organizational tools for writing, this is a good place to apply
them.
c. Write (W.8.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). Have students go through the writing process of
planning, revising, editing, and publishing their writing responses.
d. Review (W.8.4-6). Use the StudySync “Review” feature to have students complete
one to two evaluations of their peers’ work based on your chosen review rubric.
Have the students look at and reflect upon the peer evaluations of their own
writing. What might you do differently in a revision? How might you strengthen the
writing and the ideas?
Extension (additional 75 minutes)
e. Write (W.8.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). For homework, have students write an essay using one
of the prompts you did not choose to do in class. Students should publish their
responses online.
f.
Write Creatively (W.8.3, 7, 9 and RL.8.9 and ELL). In pairs or small groups, assign
students to think of other traumatic national events of their choosing—preferably
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
one that is native to their own heritage—and write a short modern revision of “O
Captain! My Captain!” for this other event, turning Whitman’s classic poem into a
song, rap, spoken word performance, or any other form. Allow room for creativity
but make sure students transpose the original themes and framework of
Whitman’s poem into their own. Do not simply recite the lines of Whitman’s
original.
g. Record (SL.8.5-6). In conjunction with the previous assignment, record these
modern versions of “O Captain! My Captain!” Share these recordings on
SoundCloud for the whole class to hear. If students are hesitant, consider writing
and recording your own.
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Key Vocabulary
1.
rack (n.) – in the poem it has a double sense 1) a general cause of anguish, torment, or
destruction as in “rack and ruin” 2) a specific nautical sense of high wind driving a ship
2. exult (v.) – to revel in triumph, rejoice, or celebrate
3. keel (n.) – the spine of a ship, a large foundational bottom beam that runs fore-and-aft,
around which a ship’s hull is constructed to provide stability.
4. bugle (n.) – a brass instrument resembling a trumpet and common in militaries
5. trill (v.) – the warbling from the alteration between two different musical tones
Reading Comprehension Questions
1.
What does the speaker of the poem identify the Captain as a captain of?
a. a starship
b. a naval ship
c. a military company
d. a military band
2. In what point of view is the poem written?
a. 1st person, present tense
b. 2nd person, past tense
c. 3rd person, future tense
d. 1st person, future tense
3. With what other role does the speaker of them poem explicitly associate the Captain?
a. president
b. general
c. grandfather
d. father
4. What does the speaker of the poem see lying on the deck by the Captain’s corpse?
a. brine
b. tears
c. ashes
d. blood
5. The address “Exult O shores, and ring O bells!” uses what type of figure of speech?
a. onomatopoeia
b. alliteration
c. apostrophe
d. adynation
6. This poem, unusual for Whitman, has a very regular structure of how many stanzas with
how many lines?
a. 3 stanzas, 12 lines
b. 3 stanzas, 3 lines
c. 3 stanzas, 8 lines
d. 3 stanzas of varying lengths
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
7. What event is not explicitly present in the poem?
a. death
b. succession
c. victory
d. all of the above
8. The repetition of “for you” in the lines “For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths – for your
shores a –crowding/ For you they call,” is an example of what figure of speech?
a. anaphora
b. alliteration
c. apostrophe
d. adynation
9. The first 4 lines in all 3 stanzas of the poem do what?
a. They repeat
b. They rhyme
c. They bore
d. All of the above
10. What are the Captain’s last words in the poem?
a. “Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”
b. “It doesn’t really matter.”
c. “This is no time for making enemies.”
d. The poem doesn’t say.
Answer Key
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. D
5. C
6. C
7. B
8. A
9. B
10. D
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!
Further Assignments
1.
Compare the structure and themes of “O Captain! My Captain!” to Emily Dickinson’s
famous poem 284.
The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea—
Forgets her own locality—
As I—toward Thee—
She knows herself an incense small—
Yet small—she sighs—if All—is All—
How larger—be?
The Ocean—smiles—at her Conceit—
But she, forgetting Amphitrite—
Pleads—“Me”?
Points of discussion or writing for students could include comparing and contrasting the
sea imagery, the different tones of the poems’ speakers, the stanza structure of both
poems’ gradually shrinking line length, and the different perspectives of the poets as
male or female in mid-19th-century America. (RL.8.5 and W.8.8-9)
2. Have students watch this You Tube video of an animated picture of Whitman reading the
poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7L6RhqpJtg. Have students brainstorm other
visually and aurally interesting ways to make a video or recitation of the poem. Avenues
could include finding background images, finding appropriate accompanying music, or
setting the poem to music. (W.8.9 and SL.8.5)
3. Have students rewrite the poem from the perspective of the Captain. They may choose to
mimic Whitman’s style, or they may use an entirely different form and/or tone in order to
convey a radically different perspective. (W.8.3)
4. Have students write and/or present a comparison between “O Captain! My Captain!” and
another of Whitman’s poems (e.g. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” “A Noiseless
Patient Spider”). Students should focus on both the content of the poems (images,
subjects, exclamations) and the word choices and styles. Ask students to then draw
conclusions about Whitman based on his poems. What does his writing say about him?
(RL.8.1-5, 10 and W.8.1-2, 4, 10 and SL.8.2-4)
5. Have students read “O Captain! My Captain!” aloud, identifying the most important words
in each stanza and using inflection to reflect the tone of the poem. If possible, allow
students to record in SoundCloud and listen to their readings. (ELL)
6. Re-write “O Captain! My Captain!” in prose, capturing the essential details and elements
of Whitman’ original poem. Explore and develop the use of different verb tenses to
describe action that is happening in the past, present, or future. (ELL)
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Lesson Plan: O Captain! My Captain!