Arlington Classics Academy
Fifth Grade/Banchs
Oh Captain! My Captain!
Assignment Due: 4/01/16
Background on Walt Whitman:
Walt Whitman was born in New York in 1819. He was raised in poverty
and went to school for only five or six years. His poems portrayed Americans as a new nation nurtured in
political liberty. During The Civil War, he cared for his brother who had been wounded at Fredericksburg
and spent time at Washington area military hospitals caring for both Union and Confederate soldiers. He
might have seen President Lincoln in Washington. He wrote an elegy (a lament for the dead) for the
President titled "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." "O Captain! My Captain!" was written
shortly after the assassination of President Lincoln. Walt Whitman died in 1892.
Assignment: Due - 4/01/16
The year is 1865, a few days after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender, when you hear the news: President
Lincoln has been assassinated! Write a paragraph that explains what your adult life is like and answer
the following questions in the paragraph. Remember, the year is 1865.
1. How do you feel when you hear the news of the President’s assassination?
2. How are your neighbors reacting to the news?
3. What signs of mourning are being displayed by the general public?
Illustration: Due – 3/25/16
Using the information that you provided, illustrate a vertical 5x7 picture of yourself and what you would
look like in the year 1865. The illustration should be a head shot only that includes your shirt. (similar to
the format that is used for your school picture)
Finished Product:
Your finished product should be an 8 ½ x 11 piece of white paper. The left hand side of the paper will
include your illustration of yourself in time period clothes. (You may create a plain frame to place
around your picture.) The right hand side of the paper will include your paragraph that explains who you
are and answers the three questions provided above. Paragraphs need to be cut out to fit on the paper
next to your portrait. Paragraphs may be typed or handwritten.
Oral Presentation:
You will present your self -portrait and your 1865 paragraph on April 1, 2016.
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Your Name