Unit 4: Poetry

8th Grade ELA

Name: _________________________________ELA Section: _________

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I like to see it lap the Miles - (383)BY EMILY DICKINSON

I like to see it lap the Miles -

And lick the Valleys up -

And stop to feed itself at Tanks -

And then - prodigious step

Around a Pile of Mountains -

And supercilious peer

In Shanties - by the sides of Roads -

And then a Quarry pare

To fit its sides

And crawl between

Complaining all the while

In horrid - hooting stanza -

Then chase itself down Hill -

And neigh like Boanerges -

Then – punctual as a Star

Stop - docile and omnipotent

At its own stable door -

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“I like to see it lap the Miles” – 383 by Emily Dickinson

Vocabulary to know:

prodigious – remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree

supercilious – behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others

docile – ready to accept control or instruction; submissive or obedient

omnipotent – having unlimited power; able to do anything

Define and find an example of each in the poem:

definition example

personification

alliteration

allusion

imagery

1. Why is this poem considered by many to be a riddle?

2. What is the object that is going to “lap the miles”? To what is it being compared?

3. What is Dickinson’s opinion of her subject? How do you know this?

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4. Locate some of the mid and end of line capitalized works and list 4 of them.

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2.

3.

4.

5. What is the pattern of their poetic arrangement? Explain why you think the poet capitalized these words.

6. This poem is an example of an extended _________________________________. Explain how you know that.

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Chicagoby Carl Sandburg

Hog Butcher for the World,

Tool maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;

Stormy, husky, brawling,

City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your

painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: yes, it is true I have seen

the gunman kill and go free to kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women

and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my

city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be

alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall

bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;

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Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted

against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,

Shoveling,

Wrecking,

Planning,

Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his

ribs the heart of the people,

Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked,

sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,

Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

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“Chicago” by Carl Sandburg

1. Who is the speaker of the poem? Explain how you know this.

2. How does the speaker feel about the city? Prove this using at least 2 different quotes for support.

a.

b.

3. What does Sandburg compare the city to? Choose two lines to support your answer.

4. What is the primary theme of this poem? Explain why. Use at least two examples of specific text to support your opinion.

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Literary Devices

alliteration – the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words

imagery – figurative language and vivid descriptions used to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our five physical senses

personification – an object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form

theme – a topic of discussion; a major idea broad enough to cover the entire scope of a literary work

metaphor – the comparison of two unlike things in which no words of comparison are used

simile – a comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison is used

allusion – an implied or indirect reference in literature to a familiar person, place, or event

5. Choose four literary from above and provide an example of each from the poem.

Literary device Example

1.

2.

3.

4.

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The Road Not TakenBY ROBERT FROST

          Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

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“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

1. Define the following terms in your own words:

diverged: ____________________________________________________________________________

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undergrowth: ________________________________________________________________________

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fair: ________________________________________________________________________________

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claim: _______________________________________________________________________________

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_trodden:

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hence: _______________________________________________________________________________

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2. What is the poem’s setting? How do you know?

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3. What can you infer about the speaker from the poem? Give 2 inferences and the lines you used to

support your inference.

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Line: ________________________________________________________________________

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b. ___________________________________________________________________________

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4. What are the differences between the two roads?

5. Which road do you think the speaker took? Explain why?

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6. What is the literal meaning of “The Road Not Taken”?

7. What is the figurative meaning of “The Road Not Taken”?

8. Do you think that the poet ever returned to the other road? How do you know this?

9. Choose four literary devices and provide an example of each from the poem.

Literary Device Example

1.

2.

3.

4.

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O Captain! My Captain!BY WALT WHITMAN

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

                         Here Captain! dear father!

                            This arm beneath your head!

                               It is some dream that on the deck,

                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

                            But I with mournful tread,

                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

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Text Dependent Analysis - Instructional

“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman

Directions for Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) Question:

The English Language Arts TDA question will ask you to analyze the passage and use evidence from the

passage to write an essay.

For the TDA essay:

Be sure to read the passage and TDA question carefully.

Review the Writer’s Checklist (below) to help you plan and organize your response.

You may look back at the passage to help you write your essay.

Write your essay in the space provided. If you use scratch paper to write a rough-draft essay, be

sure to transfer your final essay to the space provided.

Be sure to check that your essay contains evidence from the passage to support your response.

Be sure to check your essay for errors in capitalization, spelling, sentence formation, punctuation,

and word choice.

Writer’s Checklist for the Text-Dependent Analysis Question PLAN before you write:

Make sure you read the question carefully.

Make sure you have read the entire passage carefully.

Think about how the question relates to the passage.

Organize your ideas on scratch paper. Use a thought map, outline, or other graphic organizer to

plan your essay. FOCUS while you write.

Analyze the information from the passage as you write your essay.

Make sure you use evidence from the passage to support your response.

Use precise language, a variety of sentence types, and transitions in your essay.

Organize your paper with an introduction, body, and conclusion. PROOFREAD after you write.

o I wrote my final essay in the answer booklet.

o I stayed focused on answering the question.

o I used evidence from the passage to support my response.

o I corrected errors in capitalization, spelling, sentence formation, punctuation, and word

choice.

Text Dependent Analysis - Instructional

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“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman

Author’s often use figurative language to convey deeper meaning. Write an essay analyzing the role

that figurative language plays in creating the mood in the poem “O Captain! My Captain” by Walt

Whitman. Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

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