Understanding Poetry and Memoirs

What is the most likely reason the author tells her memoir in verse, not prose?

• To reflect the way people often recall memories

• To describe several events from her childhood

• To tell about the events of her life in order

• To emphasize the setting and characters

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

Which idea does the figurative language in the sentences best express?

When I speak, / the words come pouring out of me.
The story / wakes up and walks all over the room.

• Making up stories often gets the speaker into trouble.

• Writing stories is part of the speaker’s family traditions.

• Sharing stories with others is enjoyable to the speaker.

• Telling made-up stories aloud comes easily to the speaker.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

How does the sentence contribute to the poem “writing #1”?

But as I bend over my composition notebook, / only my name / comes quickly

• It introduces the speaker.

• It adds imagery.

• It describes the setting.

• It establishes the conflict.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

In the poem “late autumn,” the speaker changes from feeling —

• fascinated to bored

• frustrated to hopeful

• confident to discouraged

• misunderstood to beloved

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

In contrast to the poem “the other woodson,” the poem “reading” shows how the speaker —

• struggles in school

• wants to be a writer

• behaves and thinks like her sister

• feels pride in being different from her sister

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.7.7

CCSS.RI.8.7

CCSS.RL.8.7

Which three elements of a memoir is this sentence an example of?

I’d never have believed / that someone who looked like me / could be in the pages of the book / that someone who looked like me / had a story.

• First-person point of view

• Insight into personal important moment

• Informal tone

• Insight into the impact of a historical event

• Formal tone

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

The last three lines of the poem “when i tell my family” show that the speaker —

• is better at writing stories than telling them

• considers becoming a teacher or a lawyer

• considers becoming a teacher or a lawyer

• wants to write stories about her school and family

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

The speaker’s frequent comparisons between herself and her sister best emphasize —

• how talented the speaker’s sister is

• how incapable the speaker feels

• how much the speaker has improved as a student

• how much the speaker wants to be like her sister

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Select two examples of figurative language from the selection.

• then wait for my brilliance / to light up the classroom

• We are allowed / to take out seven books each.

• Words from books curl around each other

• No one is there to say, Not that book,

• only my name / comes quickly.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

In the poem “reading,” the speaker describes a struggle she is having. Describe a time when you have gone through a struggle yourself, and connect your experience with the speaker’s struggle. Use details from the text to support your answer.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4