Grade 5 Poetry Lesson 7 Q

Open Ended

Answer the following questions. You may consult the poem as you work.

1. The speaker tells us that he was having difficulty with his friend’s words. Based on that, how do you think the speaker felt about what happened?

Open Ended

Answer the following questions. You may consult the poem as you work.

2. In stanza 1, the father describes a scene involving worms. What do the worms do, and how do the people in this stanza react to them?

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Answer the following questions. You may consult the poem as you work.

3. What does the father believe happens if people step on the worms in stanza 1? Use the words from the stanza in your answer.

Open Ended

Answer the following questions. You may consult the poem as you work.

4. In stanza 2, the father describes another way to act. What is it? Use the words from the stanza in your answer.

Open Ended

Answer the following questions. You may consult the poem as you work.

5. What does the father say will happen to the worms if people act the way he recommends in the second stanza?

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6. 6. We know that the father is comparing the situation between the people and the worms to the speaker’s situation with his best friend. How could the speaker respond to his best friend in a way that is like a person stepping on the worms?

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7. The father gives another way to respond to the worms in stanza 2. Which of the two responses does the father seem to think is the best? Give a reason from the poem for your answer.

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8. The father gives his son advice in the form of an implied metaphor. Rather than telling the son directly how to respond to his friend, the father makes a comparison between the way to handle worms and the way to handle hurtful words. How might hurtful words and worms be alike? Give a reason from the poem to support your answer.

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9. Unless they are sick, which the father in this poem does not seem to be, people usually clear their throats when they feel “choked up” or emotional. Why might the father become emotional in this poem as he gives his son advice?

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10. What differences exist between the way the speaker initially reacts to the situation and the way his father tells him he should react?