Poetry Response #3

Read this week's poem carefully and answer the questions below. You will be graded on the completeness and thoughtfulness of your answers. The title of this poem will be revealed after the class has responded to it.

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

close to the sun in lonely lands,

ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

he watches from his mountain walls.

And like a thunderbolt he falls.

1. What/who is the poet describing (i.e. paraphrase the poem)?

2. Where do you think this poem takes place? How do you know?

3. What is your reaction when you read this poem - how does it make you feel?

Poetry Response #2

Read this week's poem carefully and answer the questions below. You will be graded on the completeness and thoughtfulness of your answers.

Words Like Freedom

By Langston Hughes

There are words like Freedom

sweet and wonderful to say.

On my heartstrings freedom sings

all day everyday.

There are words like Liberty

that almost make me cry.

If you had known what I know

you would know why.

1. What is the poet communicating in this poem (i.e. paraphrase the poem)?

2. How can words make people have joy or pain or sadness?

3. The poet tells his reaction to the words freedom and liberty. What is your reaction to those words?

4. Finally, tell another word (any word!) that you have a strong reaction to (positive OR negative) and explain why.

Poetry Response #1

April is "National Poetry Month." In honor of that, the next three blog assignments will be responses to poetry. Read this week's poem, then answer the questions below. You will be graded on how thoughtfully and completely you answer the questions.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

- William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

that floats on high o'er vales and hills,

when all at once I saw a crowd,

a host, of golden daffodils;

beside the lake, beneath the trees,

fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

and twinkle on the milky way,

they stretched in never-ending line

along the margin of a bay:

ten thousand saw I at a glance,

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

1. Tell me what you think the poet is talking about (i.e. paraphrase the poem).

2. What season is the poet describing? How do you know?

3. How does this poem make you feel? Why?

Quote of the Week #7

We have begun learning about how the American colonists were able to make new homes in a new land. Consider the following quote:

"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

-Christian Morgenstern

Expectations: After you have read the above quote carefully and thoughtfully, respond to it using the following prompts. In an organized paragraph, answer these questions:

1. What do you think the quote means? Use your own words to paraphrase it.
2. Do you agree with the quote? Please explain why or why not.
3. Make a connection between the quote and real life.
- If you agree with the quote, give an example of when you have seen it to be true in your life, another's person's life, or for a character in a book.
- If you disagree with the quote, give an example of when you have seen it to be disproved in your life, another's person's life, or for a character in a book.

Remember that your paragraph needs to include an introduction sentence and a conclusion sentence.