Poetry
Text Features
Poetry Review
 Stanza
A stanza is a division of a poem made by arranging the lines into
units separated by a space.
*** Stanzas can also be called verses.
 Meter
 Meter is the rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind
and number of lines.
 Rhythm
 Rhythm is the regular or progressive pattern of recurrent accents
in the flow of a poem.
Monday
Little Sister at the Circus

Under a creaking canvas sky,
By Mickey Toom

Nearly as wide as my world is wide,

Trapeze artists glide—

Somersaulting, devil-may-care,
In the glow of a spotlight’s blue-bright glare—

They catch in midair.





And far below their dangling swing,
In the colorful glow of the center ring,

Clowns are scampering.

There are bareback riders, lion’s roar,

Calliope¹ tunes, a sawdust floor,

And peanuts galore.




My little sister seems unaware
Of Cracker Jack tangled in her hair

And elephants’ blare.

Her cotton candy was sticky-sweet—
She stood to cheer from her wooden seat—

And now she’s asleep.



Questions


“Clowns are scampering.”






1. In the line above, the word scampering means
waiting
laughing
running
climbing

 The poem describes the circus as being under a “creaking canvas sky.”
This
 PROBABLY means that
 the sky is made of canvas.
 noises are interrupting the circus.
 the sky is about to fall over.
 the circus is under a tent.

Which of these describes what the poem is MOSTLY about?
 Trapeze artists swing high above the center ring.
 A child and his or her younger sister go to the circus and see lions.
 A young girl stands and cheers for the circus.
 While the circus makes noise around her, a young girl falls asleep.
Questions…

The poem’s narrator could BEST be described as
 someone who is not a character.
 the young girl who falls asleep.
 the young girl’s older brother or sister.
 one of the trapeze artists.

Which of these is true about the way the poet wrote “Little Sister at the Circus”?
 Every other line rhymes.
 Each line in each stanza rhymes.
 Each line is a complete sentence.
 Each stanza has four lines.

Which of the following is an example of alliteration?
 far below their dangling swing
 And now she’s asleep
 Nearly as wide as my world is wide
 Calliope tunes, a sawdust floor

What does the poem say is on the floor?
 cotton candy
 sawdust
 clowns
 canvas
Create
 Create a poem that has a rhyming pattern of abab
 You poem must also contain alliteration (repetition of
beginning letter sound)
 Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Tuesday
October Nights
By Tiffany Carlisle
I love October nights in bed

Snuggled beneath the sheets and spread,

As the wind goes dancing and clouds are shred

And shadows are sweeping around my head.


I love to watch the old leafless trees

Shake gnarled elbows and rickety knees

In the howl of autumn’s keen, crisp breeze,

Which has stolen their red and golden leaves.


I love the wind when it rants and roars,

Knocking at windows and shaking doors.

I love to listen as it explores,

With a series of snorts and grunts and snores.


And when I watch closely—I often do—

I can see clouds playing peekaboo

With the bone-white moon in my window view.

(If you look closely, you’ll see them, too.)


I love to be safe and snug in my room

As winds are moaning their songs of doom,

And the moon is sweeping the night’s gray gloom

Beneath my bed with her silver broom.

Questions

“I love to watch the old leafless trees

Shake gnarled elbows and rickety knees”

What part of a tree is the poet comparing to gnarled elbows and rickety knees in the above lines?
 bark
 roots
 leaves
 branches

What time of year is this poem set?
 spring
 summer
 fall
 winter

What is the rhyme scheme of “October Nights”?
 aabb
 aaaa
 abab
 abba

Questions
Which of the following is an example of imagery?




I love October nights in bed
I love to listen as it explores,
With the bone-white moon in my window view.
I love to be safe and snug in my room



When the speaker says, “And the moon is sweeping the night’s gray gloom /
Beneath my bed with her silver broom,” she means that




moonlight is flooding the room.
the moonlight is becoming dimmer.
the moon is shining only under her bed.
the moon is mopping the bedroom floor.


Which of the following is an example of personification?
I love to be safe and snug in my room
I love the wind when it rants and roars
(If you look closely, you’ll see them, too.)
 Snuggled beneath the sheets and spread





Which of the following BEST describes how the speaker feels at the end of the poem?
secure
lonely
 anxious
 frightened


Shadow March
 All around the house is the jet-black night;
 It stares through the window-pane;
 It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,
 And it moves with the moving flame.

 Now my little heart goes a beating like a drum,
 With the breath of the Bogies in my hair;
 And all around the candle and the crooked shadows come,
 And go marching along up the stair.

 The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,
 The shadow of the child that goes to bed—
 All the wicked shadows coming tramp, tramp, tramp,
 With the black night overhead.
Questions

Lines 1 and 2 of the poem are an example of




a simile.
a refrain.
a metaphor.
personification.


How many stanzas are in the poem?




two
three
four
five


In the poem, the words tramp, tramp, tramp




make the poem seem scarier.
give the reader a visual image.
make the poem funnier.
show the age of the child.


An antonym of wicked is




evil.
wonderful.
light.
frightening.
Create
 Create a poem that has a rhyming pattern of aabb (at least 1
stanza)
 Your poem must have personification (human characteristics
to things that are not alive)
 Example: the clouds cried
Wednesday
Duty
Read the Poem Duty on page 686
Questions for Duty
What Rhyme Scheme did you see in Duty?
2. What is Duty in this poem?
3. Why does the poem say not turn away from duty?
4. How is this poem using personification?
1.
Jim
 After reading the poem Jim (pg. 687) answer these questions
 1. What rhyme scheme did you see in Jim?
 2. Why did Jim decide to miss his baseball game?
 3. What does it mean when it says “the sun should drop it’s
greatest gold on him”
 4. Compare the two poems? What do the poems have in
common?
Create
 Create a poem with 2 stanzas
 Stanza 1 must have the rhyming pattern of abab
 Stanza 2 must have a rhyming pattern of aabb
 You poem must contain alliteration and personification