Poem #6
Narrative Poem
“The Raven” – pg. 940
 Complete questions 2, 3, 4, 5
2a. Lenore is the woman that the speaker loves, but she has recently passed away.
2b. The speaker loved Lenore and now grieves over losing her to death. He tortures
himself over her death with his grieving and mourning
3a. Weak and weary describe the speakers mood at the beginning of the poem.
3b. The adjectives I would use to describe the speakers mood at the end of the poem are
mournful, fearful, hopeless and losing all reason. I think he is going insane.
3c. The raven has caused the speaker’s mood to change because he thinks the raven is a
demon and was sent by Satan to torment him.
4a. The raven says one word: “Nevermore”
4b. I think the raven is responding to the speaker’s questions. He is telling the speaker
that his life will “nevermore” be the same.
5a. At the beginning, the raven is just a bird, but by the end he is a messanger sent to
drive the speaker insane.
5b. My impression of the raven changed when he wouldn’t leave the speaker even when
he tried to chase it away. A real bird would be scared and fly away to safety.
 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”)
Onomatopoeia – “... suddenly there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping,
rapping” - Line 3-4
Alliteration – “...while I pondered weak and weary.” – Line 1
Internal rhyme – “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I ponder weak and weary.” – Line
 Rate the poem on the following scale accompanied by a 1-3 sentence specific explanation for
the rating.
I did not like this poem because I don’t believe that a bird would arrive as a messenger.
Also, the speaker seems to be slowly losing his mind and sometimes the poem is hard to
understand and doesn’t make sense to me.
Approval Rating Scale:
Liked it!
It was ok.
UGH! Did not like it!
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
This picture shows a man in anguish that is struggling to be free. In the right upper
corner of the picture “death” is represented with a skeleton. The speaker seems to be trapped
inside the room with death smiling down on him. Also there is a raven flying around the room
perhaps diving at the man who is trying to escape its constant cawing.
Gustave Doré Plate 2: Nevermore
http://dore.artpassions.net/