"Chemo Side Effects" Round 1

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

In the first and second stanzas, the speaker is trying to...

• think of a word

• express themselves

• retrieve something from a bush

• find their way

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

What does the black ocean in stanza 4 represent?

• the speaker's sickness

• the speaker's feeling of loss

• the speaker's memory

• the speaker's fear

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

When the speaker pursues a certain memory, they...

• become anxious and afraid.

• remember the wrong thing.

• remember the big picture but not the details.

• can only remember the distant past.

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

PART A: Which statement best expresses the theme of the poem?

• The most frightening part of chemo is the inability to remember.

• It can be comforting to get lost in good memories while going through chemo.

• The positive outcomes of chemo are worth the negative side effect of memory loss.

• Chemo can make it so that words and memories are just out of reach.

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

PART B: Which detail from the poem best supports the answer to Part A?

• "about to pinch the / dangling / berry" (Lines 4-6)

• "I could always pull the gift / from the lucky-dip barrel" (Lines 16-17)

• "No use — / it's turning / out of sight" (Lines 23-25)

• "gondolas bobbing in sunny silence, / a pigeon mumbling something" (Lines 29-30)

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

PART A: How do the metaphors and similes used to describe memory retrieval contribute to the meaning of the poem?

• They show how the only memories that the speaker can remember are bad ones.

• They suggest how close the speaker is to giving up on trying to remember anything at all.

• They show how it's only becoming more difficult for the speaker to retrieve memories each time.

• They suggest that the speaker feels close to remembering, but the memory escapes them.

Chemo Side Effects: Memory

BY ELISE PARTRIDGE

Where is the word I want?

Groping

in the thicket,

about to pinch the

dangling

berry, my fingerpads

close on

air.

I can hear it

scrabbling like a squirrel

on the oak's far side.

 

Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean

your singular flare,

blaze

your topaz in the mind's blank.

I could always pull the gift

from the lucky-dip barrel,

scoop the right jewel

from my dragon's trove....

Now I flail,

the wrong item creaks up

on the mental dumbwaiter.

No use—

it's turning

out of sight,

a bicycle down a

Venetian alley—

I clatter after, only to find

gondolas bobbing in sunny silence,

a pigeon mumbling something

I just can't catch.

PART B: Which quote from the poem best supports the answer to Part A?

• "about to pinch the / dangling / berry, my fingerpads / close on / air." (Lines 4-8)

• "Word, please send over this black stretch of ocean / your singular flare" (Lines 12-13)

• "I could always pull the gift / from the lucky-dip barrel, / scoop the right jewel" (Lines 16-18)

• "a bicycle down a / Venetian alley — / I clatter after" (Lines 26-28)

Identifying the author's purpose in a poem helps the reader understand:

• The rhyme scheme of the poem.

• Why the poet wrote the poem and what they hope to achieve.

• The number of stanzas in the poem.

• The metric foot used in the poem.

Which poetic device involves the repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words?

• Assonance

• Alliteration

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

The poet uses the imagery in stanza 3 to help the reader visualize-

• how cowboys juggle their responsibilities

• the wind is powerful and untamed

• how the light fills the sky

• the dangers of riding a horse in the wind