Lesson Includes
 Common Core Aligned textbased questions
 Use of the Writing Strategy
“Mentor Texts”
 Writing Strategy: Sentence
Frames
 Students write their own
version
 Differentiation and Extension
Tips
“Grandma’s Cupboard”
By: Jonathan Williamson
(1) Some of Grandma’s furniture
lives at our house now.
My favorite is a tall wooden
cupboard.
(5) It is golden oak, soft and worn,
and it is very,
very old.
It takes me back to Grandma’s.
I open its glass doors,
(10) and it smells like her living
room
a thousand miles away,
with someone else living in it now.
Now, at my own house, in my own
(15) living room,
I open the old cupboard doors,
I take a deep breath,
and WHOOSH!
I am back in Grandma’s
(20) house once more.
The cupboard says,
“Welcome back! Good to see you!”
1. What is one of the dominant poetic devices used
in the poem?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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2. In stanza 2, what words could replace “worn” and
“old” that would change the author’s tone?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
3. What tone does the phrase “a thousand miles
away with someone else living in it now” imply?
What does it convey about the speaker’s feelings
(tone)?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
4. What shift or change happens in line 14?
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__________________________________________
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5. What is the overall tone of the poem? (how does the author feel about the subject he is writing about?)
The overall tone of the poem “Grandma’s Cupboard” by Jonathan Williamson is _________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
6. What sensory details (imagery) are used in this poem? Cite the lines by quoting them below.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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Write Your Own!
Assignment: Write your own version of this poem using the frame below. You must include three examples of
the poetic device imagery. You must also show a clear tone (how you feel about the topic) through the diction
(word choice), connotation (feelings of words), and imagery you choose to use.
Step 1: Pick a person and object you have strong feelings (good or bad) about
Step 2: Decide on a clear tone (what feelings do you want show about this person and object?)
Step 3: Show the tone through diction, connotation and imagery
Step 4: Draw a picture of the object
Some of my ____________________________
______________________________________
My favorite is __________________________
______________________________________.
It is _______________, and _______________,
And it is very ___________________________.
It takes me back to _______________________
_______________________________________
And it smells like _________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Now, __________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
__________________________________it says
_______________________________________
Answer Key
1. The dominant poetic devices are personification (lines 2 and 21) and imagery (lines 5-7, 1011, 17, 22)
2.
If the word “old” was changed to “ancient” that would shift the tone to a more formal, less
personal tone. The word “old” is similar to how we describe people, thus personifying the
cupboard.
If the word “worn” was changed to “worn-out”, “run-down”, “used” all would create a less
favorable and less admiring tone. It would change the feeling the author is conveying about the
cupboard. “Worn” implies it has been used again and again, perhaps through many good times
and memories, whereas “used” or “run-down” has an implication that the item has been abused
and not fondly taken care of.
3. This line implies the author feels like a stranger or distant from his grandmothers house; like
he misses it, but it is long gone. It almost seems to convey a sense of resentment that he cannot
be close to it, and that someone else has come in and taken it over.
4. The shift that happens in line 14 is that the author moves from reminiscing about the past, to
speaking in the present day. There is also a shift in tone because it moves from a feeling of
admiration and nostalgia to appreciation for the relic left over to be a reminder of his
grandmother. There is a tone of moving forward from the past conveyed.
5. The overall tone of the poem is reminiscent (answers may vary; other accurate answers
include nostalgic, fondness, admiration, loss, appreciation).
6. Line 5-7 “It is golden oak, soft and worn, and it is very, very old.” (sight)
Lines 10-11 “And it smells like her living room” (smell)
Line 17 “I take a deep breath,” (touch)
Line 22 ‘Welcome Back! Good to see you’ (sound)
Differentiation Ideas:
 Students could draw the picture first allowing them to visualize first and then find
the words that go with the image
 Help students decide on a feeling they have toward the object, then provide them
tone words (see attached list)
 Scaffold Questions
Who gave you the object?
How do you feel about that person?
How do you feel about the object?
Tone Words
Sad




Regretful
Longing/missing
Feeling a sense of loss
Remembrance (could also be a happy emotion)
Happy
 Admiration
 Appreciation
 Humor
 Comforted
 Safe
Extension Ideas:
 Students cite evidence to “prove” the tone they chose.
 Students can explain the examples in question 2 by explaining the sensory detail
that is appealed to and how it creates imagery and thus the overall tone.