Finding Theme in Poems

Which of the following choices BEST describes what a theme is?

• A theme is a life lesson that the reader can take away from a story or poem.
• A theme is where and when a story or poem takes place.
• A theme is an issue that a character has throughout a story or poem.
• A theme is how a character solves a problem and what they do.

How is the theme of the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" shared through the speaker's words?

• The speaker believes that hope gives all people a reason to live.
• The speaker believes it's all good to offer criticism to help people improve.
• The speaker believes that he should only sit and observe what people do and say.
• The speaker believes that people should be accepted as they are.

Choose a line from the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" that best supports this theme: "People should be accepted as they are".

• "But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears..."
• "Let me live in a house 
• "Both parts of an infinite plan..."
• "Let me live in a house by the side of the road..."

Choose a line from the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" that best supports this theme: "People should be accepted as they are".

• "Let me live in a house by the side of a road..."
• "I see from my house by the side of the road..."
• "And be a friend to man..."
• "By the side of the highway of life..."

Choose a line from the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" that best supports this theme: "People should be accepted as they are".

• "Both parts of an infinite plan..."
• "I would not sit in the scorner's seat, Nor hurl the cynic's ban..."
• "Let me live in a house by the side of the road..."
• "Where the race of men go by..."

Which of the following details in the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" shows what the poem is MOSTLY about? 

• Sitting in a scorner's seat.
• Being a friend to everyone that passes by their house by the side of the road.
• Sitting on a highway with cars.
• Having a race against other men.

What does the poet mean when they say, "Let me live in a house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man."

• The poet means they are actually sitting on a porch and talking to people in real life.
• The poet means they are living in a house and watching other people walking down the road.
• The poet means that they want to be respectful and accept everyone they meet.
• The poet means they want to be friends with everyone, even if they don't like them.

What does the poet mean when they write about their feelings that other people are "as good and as bad as I"?

• The poet means that the other people have done horrible things.
• The poet means that they don't judge other people and they are kind to others.
• The poet means that other people do good things. 
• The poet means that they live in a house with good and bad people.

What details from the second stanza of the poem "The House by the Side of the Road" describe the people that the speaker sees from his house?

• The speaker sees people who are "faint with the strife".
• The speaker sees people who are walking on a "highway of life".
• The speaker sees people that are a "friend to man". 
• The speaker sees people that are in a "race of man".

What do you think are the two parts of the  "infinite plan" that the speaker refers to in the second stanza of the poem?

• Both parts of the infinite plan is that people are traveling the highway and living in a house.
• Both parts of the infinite plan is that it is never-ending and hard.
• Both parts of the infinite plan include the good times--smiles--and the bad times--tears.