Abandoned Farmhouse

Read lines 7 and 8

but not a man for farming, say the fields

cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn.

The poet uses these lines to show that

• the man was an inadequate farmer

• the weather destroyed the farm and the family had to flee

• the man liked to collect rocks

• the field and the barn flooded every time it would rain

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.6.5

The repetition of the words “says the house” is used to –

• compare the family members who once lived there

• highlight the poor care the family gave to their home

• describe the destruction the family caused to their property

• show the family through the eyes of their home

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.6.5

Stanza 3 is important to the poem because it suggests –

• a natural disaster caused the family to abandon their home.

• the bank foreclosed on the house

• an expected event caused the family to break up

• the father passed away suddenly

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

CCSS.W.6.9A

What can the reader best conclude is the reason for the author’s choice of depicting an empty farmhouse?

• A home is the heart of family life, and the absence of family in a home delivers a powerful message of lost hope.

• Home is a person to many and not a place, and the people missing lets you know that bad weather has occurred.

• All readers can identify with a house that was once loved.

• An empty farmhouse is eerie and lets you know the mother has died.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

What can be inferred from stanza one?

• The farmer hated farming.

• The farmer was forced to farm.

• The farmer was not good at farming.

• The farmer was not a good husband or farmer.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

The simile in the poem, "toys are strewn in the yard/like branches after a storm", helps the reader to

• know that a storm went through the farm

• picture kids in the yard playing with branches

• realize the family was very messy

• picture a messy yard with toys thrown everywhere

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.4

The poet chose to use alliteration throughout the poem most likely to –

• make a point about the farm having been abandoned

• highlight words that describe what happened

• help the reader visualize the poem more easily

• create a pleasing sound to the reader’s ears

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.4

Which line from stanza two helps the reader know that the family was poor?

• papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves

• Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves

• And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames

• It was lonely here, says the narrow country road

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2