Poetry: Hughes, Angelou

Word Cloud

How do you feel about poetry?

Standard & Objective

ELA.10.R.1.4: Analyze how authors create multiple layers of meaning
and/or ambiguity in a poem.
Students should:

•

Be able to identify the theme in a poem

•

Use text evidence to support their analysis of a poem

•

Use text evidence to identify an author's argument &
to support their own

Multiple Choice

What is the narrator of a poem called?

• Author

• Main Character

• Speaker

• Mistress of Ceremonies

Multiple Choice

"At first you'll joy to see the playful snow" is an example of:

• alliteration

• simile

• personification

• metaphor

Multiple Choice

"Like white moths trembling on the tropic air" is an example of:

• metaphor

• assonance

• simile

• personification

Multiple Choice

What is the theme of this poem?

• family first

• Don't judge a book by its cover.

• Jealousy

• Believe in yourself

Multiple Choice

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Has what rhyme scheme?

• ABAB

• ABCD

• ABCB

• IDK

Multiple Choice

"Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly" is an example of:

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Assonance

Task #1: "My Papa's Waltz"

Read "My Papa's Waltz" in Actively Learn, taking and answering notes and questions.

This is considered a ballad because of its elements, which include: content, rhyme scheme, and
structure.

Pay close attention to the diction throughout the poem.

Multiple Choice

Waltzing 'was not easy' for the poet most likely because

• he was physically weak

• he suffered from dizziness

• his father's movements were rough

• he could not dance

Multiple Choice

The title of the poem, "My Papa's Waltz" is ironic most likely because it suggests

• a child's close relationship with his father

• happiness in the home

• smooth, slow movements, contrary to the dangerous uncalculated steps of the father

• a father's interest in his child

"Mother to Son"

This poem does not have a rhyme scheme or
follow any traditional structure. It is a
monologue, meaning one person is speaking
to someone else (who is not speaking). The
title reveals who is speaking and to whom.
Please open this assignment in Actively Learn
so you can read along while Langston Hughes
himself reads his poem to us. After, we will
listen to Viola Davis reading the text. Pay
close attention to the difference in your
response to each.

Hughes Reading
Davis Reading

Multiple Choice

In the poem, who is the speaker?

• Langston Hughes

• A mother

• Maya Angelou

• A son

Multiple Choice

In the poem, who is the speaker addressing, and what are they addressing?

• A mother is telling a story to her child about her own childhood.

• A mother is speaking to her son about climbing a crystal staircase.

• A son is retelling a conversation his mother had with him about earning money.

• A mother is warning her son about the difficulties of life and perseverance.

Multiple Choice

How has the speaker described her life so far?

• As a fancy, beautiful staircase.

• As flawless, without trials.

• As a difficult, painful climb

• As a strange, spiral staircase

Multiple Choice

What is the theme and central metaphor of the poem?

• The narrator describes a tiring climb up a beat-up staircase, representing life's struggles.

• The narrator describes a beat-up staircase turning into a crystal staircase, representing her overcoming hardship.

• The narrator describes herself going down a spiral staircase, representing her continuous problems.

Multiple Choice

"But still, like dust, I'll rise" is an example of:

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Allusion

Multiple Choice

What is the rhyme scheme?

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise

• ABAB

• ABCB

• AABB

• ABCD

Multiple Choice

'I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide" is an example of:

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Refrain

​Pause...

Please return to Actively Learn to read Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird"...

Multiple Choice

What is the main conflict in this poem?

• The caged bird hates the free bird.

• The caged bird longs for the life of the free bird.

• The free bird laughs at the caged bird.

• The free bird cannot sing as well as the caged bird.

Multiple Choice

The poem alternates between describing the free bird and the caged bird. This structure emphasizes

• the contrast between being free and confined.

• the similarity between the experiences of being free and confined.

• the complicated struggle of being free.

• the caged bird and free bird are the same species.

Multiple Choice

What do the rhyming words rage and cage in stanza 2 emphasize?

• the anger that can accompany a lack of freedom

• the sadness that can accompany a lack of freedom

• that it is possible to feel free even in a cage

• that the caged bird cannot sing

Multiple Choice

Stanzas 2 and 5 describe the caged bird: "his wings are clipped and / his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing." This shows that

• the bird's body is imprisoned, but he refuses to stop expressing himself.

• the bird is imprisoned, but he is well-groomed and cared for.

• all birds sing the same song no matter their circumstances.

• the bird wants to entertain others despite being imprisoned.

Multiple Choice

Based on the context in stanza 5, "the grave of dreams" can be read as a figure of speech that shows the caged bird

• lives in a graveyard

• works to achieve a range of goals.

• has had to suppress many ambitions

• has given up acts as if he were dead

​Exact Path Assignments

Poetry
Trophy Due Sunday!


Late (Closing Today)
Understanding Rhetoric
Evaluating Argument