O Captain! My Captain! Poetry Comparison

Students can deepen their understanding of a poem by comparing it to other poems. The process of comparing allows students to use analytical skills and higher order thinking. In this storyboard activity, students will compare “O Captain! My Captain!” to A. E. Housman’s “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Both poems address heroes dying at the height of their glory, but convey different emotions and themes. Have students compare or contrast the poems’ basic events, characters, images, structure, tones, or figurative language. By pointing out similarities and/or differences between these elements, students can then identify the differing themes of the two poems.

You can also have students compare the poem to selections from other genres, including artwork, film, speeches, short stories, and novels.

Other suggestions for comparison:

• “Elegy for J.F.K.” or “Funeral Blues” by W. H. Auden
• Brutus’ funeral oration from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
• Photographs of President Lincoln or President Kennedy’s funerals

Poetry Comparison Example for O Captain! My Captain!

	EVENTS	IMPORTANT IMAGES	THEMES
O Captain! My Captain!	The nation is in the midst of celebrating Lincoln's Civil War victory when he dies.	Negative images: pale, cold body and drops of blood	Death is tragic: "O heart! heart! heart!"
To an Athlete Dying Young	The townspeople are in the midst of celebrating the athlete's victory when he dies.	Positive images: unwithered laurels and unchallenged cup	Death is fortunate: "Now you will not swell the rout/Of lads that wore their honors out"