Reading Comprehension Questions

Read the poems "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop, and "From Blossoms" by Li-Young Lee, and answer the following questions.

"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop
(Thursday, July 10, 2003)
Read
Listen (03:19)

"From Blossoms" by Li-Young Lee
(Wednesday, June 20, 2001)
Read
Listen (01:21)


1) What images do you have in your mind when you read the poems?

2) How did the poets use words to create these images?

3) What images are similes?

4) What images are metaphors?

5) What images use personification?

6) What symbols are used?

7) What do you think the poems are about? What do you think the poets are saying in their poems?

8) How do the images help you understand the poems?

9) Which images help you understand the poems more easily? Why?

10) Which images challenge or confuse you in the poems? Why?

Answer key

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Listening Comprehension Questions

Listen to the poems "Sonnet 109" by William Shakespeare, and "The Loon" by Mary Oliver, and answer the following questions.

"Sonnet 109" by William Shakespeare
(Tuesday, June 10, 2003)
Read
Listen (01:11)

"The Loon" by Mary Oliver
(Sunday, August 11, 2002)
Read
Listen (01:38)


1) What images do you have in your mind when you hear the poems?

2) How did the poets use words to create these images?

3) Make a two-column chart. For every general image in each of the poems, write the specific words used in the poems. What are your examples of specific images?

4) What senses were described in the poems? List the specific examples from the poems.

5) Which images were literal images?

6) What do you think the poems are about? What do you think the poet is trying to say in the poems?

7) How do the images help you understand the meaning of the poems?

Answer key

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Critical Thinking Questions

Read or listen to the poem "Condolence" by Dorothy Parker and answer the following questions.

"Condolence" by Dorothy Parker
(Wednesday, August 22, 2001)
Read
Listen (00:58)


1) Why do you think the speaker of this poem is "speaking" to the dead?

2) How does the irony of the title relate to the poem? Why?

3) What are the differences and/or similarities between the authors tone in each of the two stanzas?

4) What theme or themes do you think run through this poem? Why? What helps you understand the themes?

5) How do the contrasting images of "tears" and "laughter" work to convey the meaning of the poem?

Answer key

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Research/Writing Challenges

1) Research one of the poets, or a poet of your choice. How does her/his life influence his poetry?

2) Research two poets from the same era. What similarities/differences do they have in their lives, including their work?

3) Choose one object or idea, such as onion. Write the one word at the top of your page. Write a poem using specific, literal images that describe all the senses without using the subject of your poem, nor its color, shape, or state of matter.

4) Think of an image from your life that is important to you. Write down all the images and ideas that come to you when you think about it. Choose some of the figurative tropes and create the images from what you have written. That is, create a simile, metaphor, personification, and/or symbol with your own images. Then write a poem from your ideas.

5) Make a list of words-use a dictionary or other resource-that you like, both concrete and abstract. Choose three (3) words in which you know the denotative meanings and list your connotations for each word. Create a poem using words from your list, your three words that have connotations as well as denotations, and consider the emotion(s) you are trying to convey with your words (especially with the adjectives, verbs, and colors).

6) You are going to create a visual poem out of pictures. Before you begin, have an idea in your mind regarding what your poem will/should say to readers. Create an order or pattern that speaks to your message. Consider what you want to say and how it may be expressed through visual images. Write an accompanying piece that brings your picture alive in words. Trade your picture with someone else. Examine their creation fully. Then write a poem inspired by their picture. When you are both finished, share both pieces with your partner and look for similarities and differences in the imagery that was conveyed through the pictures in your poem and your partner's poem.

7) Choose one of the poems already discussed, or a new poem to model your own poem on. Read it carefully and take into consideration the meter, rhyme scheme, number of stanzas, number of lines in each stanza, title, and overall structure of the piece. Think about the images used in the poem and ones that you would like to use. Describe them or create tropes, such as similes, with your images. Then write a poem incorporating your description and/or images in a style that is similar to the poem you have chosen. Be sure to make the poem your own. That is, it may not be exactly like the one you chose to model-you are starting in the same place, but ending up in a totally different one-but it may be similar in spirit.

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Key Terms and Topics

The following terms may come up in discussions of poems found on the Writer's Almanac site.

Answer key

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