5/19 Poem Structure

5/19 Poem Structure

Poetry is writing that uses words, sound, and structure in special ways to express meaning.

• Sometimes, poets arrange their thoughts in stanzas, or groups of lines. Stanzas may have a particular pattern of rhyming words.

• Sometimes poets write in free verse. In free verse, the arrangement of lines is irregular, and there may be no rhyme scheme, or pattern of rhyme, at all.

• Poets may also repeat certain sounds, words, or patterns to call attention to them, or create a rhythm.

Rhyme Scheme

The AABB rhyme scheme helps tie together the parts of each idea - starting the fire, and cleaning all day.

Repeated Pattern

Ending each line with a group of verbs suggests the day-in and day-out nature of the woman’s work.

Multiple Choice

What is the meaning of the poem?

• Mothers do a lot, but their work is not difficult.

• The work of a mother is ongoing and difficult.

• Mothers are expected to stay home.

• The narrator is special because she works harder than other mothers.

Listen closely the next time you read or hear a poem read aloud.

Ask yourself these questions to better understand the poem’s meaning:

How is the poem organized? Does it rhyme, or is it free verse?

Does the poet use repetition?

If so, what effect does it create?

Understanding poetry can be difficult, but asking questions like these can make it easier.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following shows what the stanzas add to the poem?

• The first stanza is the parents reasoning after they've shut the bedroom door; the second stanza is what they say to the child.

• The first stanza is what one parent says to the other; the second stanza is what the parents say to the child.

• The first stanza is the child's fears; the second stanza is how the owl feels.

• The first stanza is what parents say to the child; the second stanza

  is their reasoning after they’ve shut the bedroom door.

Multiple Choice

What rhyme scheme does this poem have? What does it add to the poem?

• AABB - it sounds like a lullaby to help a child fall asleep.

• ABCD - it sounds like an owl hooting.

• ABAB - it sounds like a frightened child.

• ABBA - it sounds like parents talking.

Open Ended

What words are repeated in the poem?

Open Ended

What is the meaning of the poem?

Multiple Choice

How does the structure the poet uses help add meaning to the text?

• The use of the rooster imagery suggests the speaker lives on a farm.

• The free–form lines mirror the speaker’s fun and lighthearted tone.

• The italicized sentence shows the speaker’s anger at the mother.

• The rhyme scheme mirrors the turning of pages in a photo album.

Multiple Choice

How do the speaker’s feelings become clearer in the last stanza of

this poem?

• The speaker wishes his mother had been a better photographer.

• The speaker regrets how he described the photographs.

• The speaker reveals that he likes his mother’s photography.

• The speaker is upset that the photographs had mistakes.

Open Ended

How does the structure of the poem explore the relationship between photographs and memories? Use details from the text.