Poem Family

How many stanzas are in the poem below?

My grandmothers were strong.

They followed plows and bent to toil.

They moved through fields sowing seed.

They touched earth and grain grew.

They were full of sturdiness and singing.

My grandmothers were strong.

My grandmothers are full of memories

Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay

With veins rolling roughly over quick hands

They have many clean words to say.

My grandmothers were strong.

Why am I not as they?

• 1

• 2

• 6

• 12

How many lines are in the poem below?

My grandmothers were strong.

They followed plows and bent to toil.

They moved through fields sowing seed.

They touched earth and grain grew.

They were full of sturdiness and singing.

My grandmothers were strong.

My grandmothers are full of memories

Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay

With veins rolling roughly over quick hands

They have many clean words to say.

My grandmothers were strong.

Why am I not as they?

• 2

• 4

• 6

• 12

Look at the stanza below. Lines 1 and 6 are exactly the same. Lines 2-5 start with the word "they". What type of figurative language is this?

My grandmothers were strong.

They followed plows and bent to toil.

They moved through fields sowing seed.

They touched earth and grain grew.

They were full of sturdiness and singing.

My grandmothers were strong.

• Onomatopoeia

• Personification

• Repetition

• Simile

What does author's craft mean?

• The point-of-view from which the story is told

• Author's grammar and punctuation usage

• Choices the author makes to make the poem more interesting or meaningful

Which statement best describes how the author organized her poem?

My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome

my mother was plain serious principled1 kind

my grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her

other life her dead children silent

my aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving

I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood

and was nearly buried with opportunity

some of them stuck to me others

finding me American and smooth slipped away

• The first stanza criticizes her mother and the second stanza criticizes her father.

• The author describes her family members in the first stanza. She describes how that made her feel in the second stanza.

• The first stanzas describes family members with adjectives and the second explains the definition of adjectives.

One theme from "Lineage" is that the poet aspires to be strong like her grandmothers. Which line from the poem best supports this theme?

• My grandmothers were strong.

• My grandmothers are full of memories.

• Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay.

• With veins rolling rough over quick hands.

One theme from "Family" is that the poet admires his family members. Which line from the poem best supports that theme?

• finding me American and smooth slipped away

• I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood

• and was nearly buried with opportunity

• My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome

What character traits are used to describe the poet's grandmother in "Family"?

My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome

my mother was plain serious principled kind

my grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her

other life her dead children silent

my aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving

• brilliant, embarrassed, funny, handsome

• plain, serious, principled, kind

• intelligent, lonesome

• beautiful, bitter, angry, loving

What type of characterization is used below to describe the grandmothers?

Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay

With veins rolling roughly over quick hands

They have many clean words to say.

• Direct Characterization

• Indirect Characterization

What type of characterization is used below to describe the grandmothers?

My grandmothers were strong.

• Direct characterization

• Indirect characterization