With the TWIST method, students are asked to look for and analyze the following terms: tone, word choice, imagery and detail, style, and theme. Learn more about how to make prose analysis fun and engaging with storyboards!
Walt Whitman’s 1865 poem “O Captain! My Captain!” is one of the best-known American poems of the 19th century. In addition to learning about elegy and extended metaphor, students will be able to analyze Whitman’s sound devices, diction, and unique poetic structure.
O Captain My Captain Poem Analysis & meaning - TWIST Analysis
Storyboard Text
T - Tone
W - Word Choice
I - Imagery
S - Style
T - Theme
Distressed: The speaker struggles to process the death of his hero. He is overcome with sorrow and shock.
O heart! heart! heart!, bleeding, cold, dead, pale, still, no pulse, mournful tread, fallen
“O the bleeding drops of red..."
Each eight-line stanza is split into two distinct parts. The first four lines are long and praise Lincoln's achievements. The last four lines are short and give agitated descriptions of Lincoln's dying moments.
The speaker's distress is made greater by the heroism of the captain. This conveys a theme about honoring our fallen heroes.