Name _______________________________________
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Poetry Essay Option #1: Compare Contrast: Prewriting Activity
The Wind
by James Stephens
The Wind Tapped Like a Tired Man
by Emily Dickinson
The wind stood up, and gave a shout;
He whistled on his fingers, and
The wind tapped like a tired man,
And like a host, "Come in,"
I boldly answered; entered then
My residence within
Kicked the withered leaves about,
And thumped the branches with his hand,
And said he'd kill, and kill, and kill;
And so he will! And so he will!
A rapid, footless guest,
To offer whom a chair
Were as impossible as hand
A sofa to the air.
No bone had he to bind him,
His speech was like the push
Of numerous hummingbirds at once
From a superior bush.
His countenance a billow,
His fingers, if he pass,
Let go a music, as of tunes
Blown tremulous in glass.
He visited, still flitting;
Then, like a timid man,
Again he tapped--'twas flurriedly-And I became alone.
Stephens
Subject (What is the poem about?)
Speaker (Is the speaker in the poem
identified? If so, what do you know
about the speaker?)
Imagery (What sensory details does
the poet use to describe the wind and
help us see it or hear it?)
Figurative Language (How does
the poet use simile, metaphor, or
personification?)
Dickinson
Meaning (What kind of wind do
you think the poet is talking about?)
Response (How do you feel or think
about the poem? Why?)
Similarities
a. Both poems personify the wind as a man.
Differences
b. Both poems give the wind fingers.
c.
a. Stephen's wind shouts, kicks, thumps on branches,
and wants to kill.
b. Dickinson's wind is tired and timid.
c.
d.
d.
e.
e.
f.
f.
Planning your essay:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Paragraph 1: Cite the title and author of each poem, and include a thesis statement.
Paragraph 2: Present details showing how the two poems are similar.
Paragraph 3: Present details showing how the two poems are different.
Paragraph 4: Explain your response to the poems, discussing your feelings for or thinking about each
one. Summarize your thoughts to end the paper.