College Prep Poetry #6
Narrative Poem
“The Raven” – pg. 940
 Complete questions 1-6
1. I feel that the poem’s speaker is really sad and lonely because of the way he starts out
sitting alone in a very down mood.
2. (a) Lenore is the speaker’s wife, she passed away. (b) I can infer that the speaker’s
relationship with Lenore was very strong because of how upset he is without her.
3. (a) At the beginning of the poem, the speaker uses the adjectives weak and weary to
describe his mood. (b) At the end of the poem, the speaker seems frustrated and
devastated because he just found out that he will never see or be with Lenore ever again.
(c) The raven’s responses have caused the speaker’s mood to change.
4. (a) The raven only says “nevermore.” (b) I think that the raven is responding to the
speaker’s questions.
5. (a) At first the raven seemed fascinating, but towards the end of the story he didn’t seem
so pleasant. (b) My impression of the raven changed because he kept giving negative
replies to the speaker’s questions.
6. No, it was better to use the raven because the raven gives off a dark, creepy impression
where a parrot would seem more bright and happy. Also, the raven resembles death.

 List at least 3 poetic devices found in the poem (Name the literary device and list the
example from the poem.) EX: Simile – “And the river flows like a stream of glass” - Line 4
(from “Sympathy”)
 1. Rhyme- “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary.” Line- 1
 2. Alliteration- “While I nodded, nearly napping.” Line- 3
 3. Onomatopoeia- “As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” Line- 4
 Rate the poem on the following scale accompanied by a 1-3 sentence specific explanation for
the rating.
Approval Rating Scale:
Liked it!
It was ok.
UGH! Did not like it!
I liked this poem because of how the speaker expressed how much he cared about
his wife and how much he missed her. I also liked how the raven came by and
answered the speaker’s question as if he were a person.
Label this page: Raven
Home Work Activity: Paraphrase the poem “The Raven” stanza by stanza.
OR
Find a song that illustrates the theme, mood, and situation of “The Raven.” Explain the
connections you see between the song and the poem, and include a copy of the lyrics.
OR
Find a piece of art work that illustrates the theme, mood, or situation of “The Raven.” Explain
the connections you see between the art work and the poem, and include a copy of the art work
or at least the title of the work and the artist’s name