Cloudy Day by Jimmy Santiago Baca

Which set of words from the first stanza have the most influence on the poem's tone? (a)  

• wall, windows
• iron, glass
• empty, spaces
• seethes, frightened

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

Which words from stanza two have the most negative connotations?

• huddled, haunches

• vigilant, tower

• exercise, gust

• words, fence

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

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CCSS.RL.8.10

In the simile in stanza three, to what does Baca compare the guard tower to?

I could see the main tower from where I sat,

and the wind in my face

gave me the feeling I could grasp

the tower like a cornstalk,

and snap it from its roots of rock.

• the wind

• roots

• a cornstalk

• rocks

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

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CCSS.RL.11-12.8

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Identify the example of personification in stanza four.

The wind plays it like a flute,

this hollow shoot of rock.

The brim girded with barbwire

with a guard sitting there also,

listening intently to the sounds

as clouds cover the sun.

• The wind plays it like a flute

• The brim girded with barbwire

• a guard sitting there also,

  listening

• clouds cover the sun

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

The speaker is disillusioned and powerless at the begging of the poem. What emotions does the speaker express at the end of the poem?

I am strong enough to love you,

       love myself and feel good;

       even as the earth shakes and trembles,

       and I have not a thing to my name,

       I feel as if I have everything, everything.

• scared and alone

• hopeful and empowered

• bitter and angry

• passive and apathetic

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

Which of the following thematic statements best relates to the poem?

• Getting revenge on someone else will not fix your problems.

• All the evil deeds of man should be punished

• Sometimes, love needs room to grow over time.

• People can find strength when faced with hardships

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The following quote is a good example of which of the literary devices below?

I thought of the day I was coming to prison,

in the back seat of a police car,

hands and ankles chained, the policeman pointed,

    “See that big water tank? The big

    silver one out there, sticking up?

    That’s the prison.”

• personification

• simile

• foreshadowing

• flashback

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CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

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CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Match the following

• words with ambiguous connotations

• seethes, hollow, prison, cruel, cold

• words with positive connotations

• exercise, vigilant, spring, strong, love

• words with negative connotations

• sudden, feeling, intently, believe, endure

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CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Match the following examples to their poetic device.

• repetition

• A wall of wind crashes against,

  windows clunk against, iron frames

• simile

• wind swings past broken glass

  and seethes, like a frightened cat

• personification

• The wind plays it like a flute,

  this hollow shoot of rock.

• imagery

• I can tell you,

  how a man can endure, how a man

  can become so cruel, how he can die

  or become so cold.

• metaphor

• the vigilant guard on the tower

  held his cap at the sudden gust

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

Match the following examples to their poetic device.

• symbolism

• we sat huddled in our prison jackets,

  on our haunches against the fence...

• imagery

• I was coming to prison,

  in the back seat of a police car,

  hands and ankles chained

• simile

• The wind plays it like a flute,

  this hollow shoot of rock.

• metaphor

• I stand up in the face of the wind,

  like now, it blows at my jacket,

  and my eyelids flick a little bit

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.11-12.11