Gift-Wrapped Fathers

Select TWO sentences that show how the imprisoned father tries to connect with his son.

• He has prison visits with his son.

• He asks for advice about raising a son.

• He attends his son’s birthday parties.

• He calls his son and sends him gifts.

• He tells his son to call him “Papi.”

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

By the end of the poem, the father expresses hope that....

• his son will visit him more often

• his son will learn to love his stepfather

• he can raise another child someday

• his son will learn to trust him

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

Read the following lines. Based on these lines, the reader can infer that the speaker —

he made a convenience store out of your heart

open all night eyes

baby monitor ears by the bedside

alert and on patrol to any sound

one minute microwave milk runs

• feels he was overly protective when he was a new father

• enjoyed being a new father despite the challenges he faced

• was more frustrated by the challenges of fatherhood than he expected

• thinks children should show more appreciation for the sacrifices parents make

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.4

Read lines 37–39 of the poem.

praying to one day

see your son rise

then your son set

Which statement best explains the figurative meaning of the poet’s play on the words sunrise and sunset?

• The speaker wants to see his son grow up and get on the path to success.

• The speaker wants to be able to watch the sun rise and set with his son.

• The speaker wishes his son would visit for a whole day instead of a few hours.

• The speaker hopes to have another son and be present for his childhood.

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.4

Read the following lines:

we can infer that the speaker —

so you try not to be the bad guy

as you build a bond over a 15 minute collect call

while another man pretends to be his father

not cause he loves your son

but out of spite cause he looks like you

even down talks to you

so baby boy doesn’t look up to you

• resents the fact that another man gets to act like a father to his son

• has a negative view of himself that he struggles to keep hidden

• is afraid that his son will eventually forget about him

• cares more about his son’s mother than his son  

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.3

Read lines 66–68 of the poem:

sometimes, he hugs you like a homeboy

maybe cause he’s tired of you saying

that one day, you’ll be home boy

Which sentence best restates the meaning of these lines?

• The speaker tries to hug his son but his son rejects his affection.

• The speaker distances himself from his son because it’s too painful to hold on.

• The speaker’s son sometimes treats the speaker like an acquaintance because he is losing faith in his father’s promises.

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.4

Read lines 73–74 of the poem.

so you write in second person

cause you feel like that’s the kind of father you’ve been

Which statement best explains why the speaker writes in second person?

• He feels like a secondary father figure compared to his son’s stepfather.

• He is partly speaking to his own father, who was absent just like he has been.

• He feels like he has experienced his son’s childhood from a distance instead of firsthand.

• He is speaking to all fathers who have ever been imprisoned and missed their sons.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.W.8.9A

Read line 77 of the poem.

just another father gift-wrapped in sorry

What sort of tone does the phrase gift-wrapped in sorry convey?

• Angry

• Impersonal

• Regretful

• Uncertain

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.L.8.5C

CCSS.RL.8.4