The Captain of Dreams

Poetry is not my thing. And what you are about to read was for English class. Sorry if there's any problems in the grammar I don't really check. These post about poems really seem to relate and I'm sure you can find they relate to you too. So here it is:

     In Walt Whitman’s poem, “O Captain!  My Captain!”, Whitman uses deep imagery to depict President Abraham Lincoln.  Whitman’s persona cries out to the dead Lincoln rejoicing in the great deeds and accomplishments he has achieved.  The persona uses rhetorical devices throughout the three stanza poem making known what Whitman wants the reader to understand.  Although the poem uses rhetorical devices to depict a scene with a dead President Lincoln, actually this poem relates to the dreams of the students in The Dead Poets’ Society.
     The author, Walt Whitman, uses rhetorical devices to capture a picture featuring a dead President Lincoln.  For example, Whitman says, “For you the flag is flung” (2.10).  Whitman uses an example of alliteration to emphasize and to draw a picture in the readers mind of a flag flying in the air, symbolizing victory.  Whitman uses alliteration to draw attention to the line.  He tries to keep the readers attention to make sure the readers see President Lincoln as a victorious person for all the good he did for the country.  Whitman uses a type of epistrophe when he says, “Fallen cold and dead” (1.8)  Whitman uses this phrase three times, once each at the end of each stanza.  Whitman uses this to give parallel structure to his poem, to make it flow, and to point out the tragic death of Abraham Lincoln.  The phrase paints a vivid picture of a man laying on the floor pale and cold, not breathing, but dead.
     The dead body of Lincoln relates metaphorically to the dreams and hopes of the graduated students in the movie, The Dead Poets’ Society.  In the movie, Mr. Keating uses “O Captain!  My Captain!” as the first poem he teaches his class about.  He tells them to refer to him as “captain.”  In light of this, Keating tries to make his class understand this poem foreshadows their dreams if they do not chase their hopes.  Keating wants his students to live happily, not with regrets and broken hearts.  Not with living with dead dreams, Keating uses unconventional ways of teaching.  He tries not to directly teach his students, but he leads them on, hoping they figure out for themselves.  He uses poetry, because poetry opens minds, allowing one to think of the meaning for themselves.
     Walt Whitman’s poem relates a dead person to dead dreams.  Mr. Keating hopes to teach his students that they do not need to end up broken.  He wants them all to succeed in finding themselves and their hopes.  Whitman writes this poem to describe President Lincoln dead, but this poem opens minds to new ways of thinking and opens thoughts to relate the poem to everyday lives.

I hope this helps you find yourself. I know this helps me to figure out what I want a little. Please live by "Carpe Diem" helps reduce the pain sometimes.