Name: ______________________
Test Date: __________________
Poetry Study Guide
Materials to Study:
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My Poetry Study Book
Poetry Packet
Readers Notebook
On the test, you will be expected to be able to:
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Identify types of poems, figurative language, rhyme scheme, tone, and mood
Identify the type of imagery (5 senses) and find it in a poem
Analyze poems (What does this stanza describe? What’s the main idea? Who is the speaker? How
does the poet feel? Why did author write this poem? Which line changes the tone?)
PART 1: Label the rhyme scheme of each quatrain
Quatrain #1
The sense of danger must not disappear: ______
The way is certainly both short and steep, ______
However gradual it looks from here; ______
Look if you like, but you will have to leap. ______
Quatrain #2
Oh, my love’s like a red, red rose ______
That’s newly sprung in June. ______
Oh, my love’s like the melody ______
That’s sweetly played in tune. ______
Quatrain #3
A robin sitting in a tree ______
Turned her head and winked at me. ______
She sang a song as if to say, ______
“I’m glad to see you here today.” ______
PART 2: Match the sentence to the type of figurative language it uses.
1. His fists were like iron. _____
A. Simile
2. The angry wind whipped through the trees. _____
B. Hyperbole
3. The moon was a ribbon of light on the lake. _____
C. Alliteration
4. That was the best movie in the world. _____
D. Personification
5. The little lion leaped onto the rocks. _____
E. Metaphor
PART 3: Read each poem at least twice before answering the questions.
June Night
1
The sun slumps off toward the distant horizon,
A tired guard at the end of its shift.
The shadows stretch long and the heat slides away
The cool breeze that comes in is a gift.
5
Night crawls through the window and wraps us up tight
In its familiar, strong shadowy arms
Like a smothering aunt in a black velvet coat
Wearing bracelets of silvery charms.
9
Shards of stars twinkle above the green trees
As we stop to recharge in our slumber.
The half-moon cambers, swift as it can,
Knowing its hours are numbered.
13
June nights are the shortest: a blink and they’re gone,
Unseated by sunlight and heat.
But they’re also the sweetest, for all of their traits
Are the rarest of summertime treats.
1. Draw a picture for each stanza of this poem.
Stanza 1
Stanza 2
Stanza 3
Stanza 4
2. What type of poem is “June Night?”
a. Couplet
b. Quatrain
c. Free Verse
d. Ballad
3. In which line of the poem do you find an example of personification?
a. Line 5
b. Line 9
c. Line 10
d. Line 16
4. What two things are being compared in the first two lines?
a. sun…guard
b. sun…breeze
c. horizon…guard
d. distant…shift
5. Which is being described in lines 7 and 8 of the poem?
a. Reflections in the room
b. The blanket on the bed
c. An old woman’s jewelry
d. Starts in the night sky
6. In which line of the poem do you find an example of a metaphor?
a. Line 4
b. Line 8
c. Line 12
d. Line 16
7. What two objects seem to struggle with each other in this poem?
a. The shadows and the heat
b. Night and the speaker
c. The stars and the trees
d. The day and the night
Vacuum Cleaner
1
His round metal body is
Cold and all alone
In the closet.
4
His sly, black tail is
Charged with energy.
He is hungry.
7
His body slowly warms up,
He growls, getting full on
Dirt and flies.
10
His movement seems effortless,
Roaring and picking up
Mud, crumbs, and dried food.
13
His body is full and warm.
All is lost inside him,
Including the white mutt’s hair
16
That was dipped in ink
To write this poem.
1. What is the tone of this poem? (Serious, Comical, Sarcastic, Melodramatic, etc?)
2. Why do you think that the author gives the vacuum cleaner human qualities?
3. What type of poem is “Vacuum Cleaner?”
a. Couplet
b. Quatrain
c. Free Verse
d. Ballad
4. The imagery in this poem creates a mood of—
a. Playfulness
b. Loneliness
c. Danger
d. Anger
5. The author uses sound imagery to show that the vacuum cleaner—
a. Is noisy
b. Is shiny
c. Has a pleasant sound
d. Wants to be fed
6. Line 6 of the poem is an example of—
a. Metaphor
b. Simile
c. Personification
d. Onomatopoeia
7. Which description in the poem best creates a visual image of the vacuum cleaner?
a. His body slowly warms up.
b. He is hungry.
c. His movement seems effortless.
d. His round metal body is cold and all alone.
The Color Poem
1
Blue is an empty house,
Torn and tattered curtains flowing
With the breeze.
Blue is a whistle from the train,
A sad song of pain.
6
Red is excitement,
Volcano’s lava flowing to the sea,
A raging fire.
Red is fiery and red hot,
A single rose.
11
Yellow is lemonade on a hot day,
The sun shining warm on my face,
The flavor of buttered popcorn.
Yellow is the paper with your love song,
Melting my heart.
16
Green is the sweet smell of summer,
A frog race on the Mississippi,
Limes and lily pads and jellybeans.
Green is the sound of a rushing stream,
The color of your eyes.
Picture for Stanza 1
Picture for Stanza 2
Picture for Stanza 3
Picture for Stanza 4
1. Which color makes the poet feel sorrowful?
a. Blue
b. Red
c. Yellow
d. Green
2. Which two lines from the poem create images that appeal to touch? (Circle TWO!)
a. Torn and tattered curtains flowing
b. Red is fiery and red hot
c. The sun shining warm on my face
d. The flavor of buttered popcorn
3. Find a line that appeals to the sense of sound/hearing. Copy it here.
4. Find a line that appeals to the sense of sight. Copy it here.
5. Why did the author write this poem? Explain.
PART 4: Write a couplet that includes onomatopoeia. Then create a title that connects to the main idea.
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(Title)
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