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Segment 1
All poems in this segment are available to read, or to listen to in the "Featured Resources" section to the right.
Reading Comprehension
Read the following poems on the Writer's Almanac Web site. After you have read them, answer the questions below.
 "Riding Lesson" by Henry Taylor
"The Lesson" by Edward Lucie-Smith
"What Happened When Bobby Jack Cockrum..." by David Lee
"Latin" by Anonymous
Answer the following questions:
- Two lessons are identified in "Riding Lesson." What are these lessons?
In the first lesson the riding teacher says, "keep your mind in the middle" to teach that riding horses requires paying attention. The second lesson is his improvised, practical response to being thrown from the horse unexpectedly.
- How do animals act as teachers in "Riding Lesson" and "What Happened..."?
The horse throws the riding teacher and the bear presumably attacks the man who cared for it. Each acts in accordance with his nature and teaches that people must respect animals.
- In "Latin" why does the narrator consider the dead lucky?
They don't have to learn Latin.
- In "The Lesson" what does the line "Could bind the bully's fist for a week or two;" suggest about the narrator's experience in school?
It shows he's picked on and he hopes for a break from it during this time.
- In "The Lesson" what lesson does the title refer to?
The death of the father earns the boy a respect among his classmates he didn't have before.
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Listening Comprehension
Listen to the following poems from the Writer's Almanac Web site. After you have read them, answer the questions below.
 "Alphabet" by R.T. Smith
"Criss Cross Apple Sauce," by Thomas Lux
"In Second Grade Miss Lee I Promised Never to Forget You And I Never Did," by Alberto Rios
Answer the following questions:
- In "Alphabet" identify four objects described by the narrator.
Answers will vary.
- Which line in "Alphabet" suggests the narrator's motivation for working on his letters for an hour?
"and if mother had praise
for what I had done,
I would shine all evening
Bright as a straight pin"
- In "Latin" why does the narrator consider the dead lucky?
They don't have to learn Latin.
- What is the 'letting-go moment' described in "In Second Grade Miss Lee..."?
The letting-go moment is a situation in which the teacher shares inappropriate content with young children, suggesting that she is not fit for the job and does not plan to return the following year.
- In "The Lesson" what lesson does the title refer to?
The death of the father earns the boy a respect among his classmates he didn't have before.
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Critical Thinking
Read the following poems on the Writer's Almanac Web site. After you have read them, answer the questions below.
"To David, About His Education" by Howard Nemerov
"First Lesson" by Philip Booth
"The Summer-Camp Bus Pulls Away from the Curb" by Sharon Olds
Answer the following questions:
- What does the author's tone in "To David, About His Education" suggest about his attitudes toward formal education?
Answers will vary, though the narrator does specifically identify ways in which education and schooling have no relevant connection to the 'grand confusion of the world.'
- Parents are the narrators of "First Lesson" and "The Summer-Camp Bus" Which parent is more hopeful for their child, and why? Which parent is not? What lines in each poem lead you to these conclusions?
The narrator of "First Lesson" appears to be sharing an approach to life in which his daughter will ultimately reach her goal. His physical connection to her, and the support of the sea around her, suggests a positive attitude. The mother in "The Summer-Camp Bus" expresses a fear and resignation, from the first line of the poem, that suggests she feels that she has done all she can to prepare her son for "whatever the world is going to do to him."
- Identify some examples of the absurd in "To David, About His Education." What does the author suggest through these examples.
The square root of Everest
How many times Byron goes in Texas
Whether the law of the excluded middle applies west of the Rockies
The annual rainfall on Plato's republic
The calorie content of the Diet of Worms
The author uses these juxtaposed random facts to represent the failure of formal education to prepare young people for the 'mostly invisible things' that exist in the world.
- How does the final image in each poem reflect the parents' assumptions and impact the poems' statements?
Each poem ends with the parent's vision for their child alone in the world. "To David, About His Education," expresses the concern that formal education does nothing to prepare young people for the absurdity of the real world. By the end of their educational experience students, who are now adults, have learned to perpetuate the illusion that formal education makes a person readily prepared for life in the 'real world.' In "The Summer-Camp Bus", the mother's image of unpacking a trunk reflects her assumption that she has given her son all she can, and he is left to cope with life as best he can. In "First Lesson" the final image of the daughter floating on her back and the line 'the sea will hold you,' suggest her father's basic trust in the world and that the skills he has taught her will serve her well. Ultimately, "To David, About His Education" presents a cynical statement, "First Lesson" is quite hopeful, and "The Summer-Camp Bus" speaks to the limits of a parent's ability to protect their child.
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Research Challenges
Read the following poems on the Writer's Almanac Web site. After you have read them, answer the questions below.
"The History Teacher" by Billy Collins
"History Books" by Thomas Lux
Answer the following questions:
- Find "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins on the Writer's Almanac website. Research the historical allusions in the poem, and explain their ironic interpretation and use in the poem.
Answers will vary.
- Return to Question 3 in the Critical Thinking portion. In "To David, About His Education," who is Byron? What are Plato's Republic and the Diet of Worms? Explain the absurd juxtapositions in each line.
Answers will vary
- Research biographical information about Howard Nemerov, Sharon Olds, and Philip Booth. Identify incidents/experiences in the poets' lives that may be reflected in the poems you read.
Answers will vary.
- Find other poems by Sharon Olds and explain the challenges of childhood she explores in her work.
Answers will vary.
- Locate the poem "History Books" by Thomas Lux. Compare his view of war to those of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Steven Crane.
Answers will vary
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Key Terms and Topics
Terms
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The following words can be found in the poems referred to in the previous sections.
- Chlorine - A highly irritating, greenish-yellow gaseous halogen, capable of combining with nearly all other elements, produced principally by electrolysis of sodium chloride and used widely to purify water, as a disinfectant and bleaching agent, and in the manufacture of many important compounds.
- Narcotic - An addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior, and usually induces sleep or stupor.
- Pulsating - To expand and contract rhythmically; beat.
- Hallucination - Perception of visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory experiences without an external stimulus and with a compelling sense of their reality, usually resulting from a mental disorder or as a response to a drug.
- Amnesia - A partial or total loss of memory, usually resulting from shock, psychological disturbance, brain injury, or illness.
- Chagall - Russian-born artist noted for his dreamlike, fanciful imagery and brilliantly colored canvases.
- Panpipes - A primitive wind instrument consisting of a series of pipes or reeds of graduated length bound together, played by blowing across the top open ends.
- Moors - To make fast (a vessel, for example) by means of cables, anchors, or lines: moor a ship to a dock; a dirigible moored to a tower. To fix in place; secure. .
- Reluctant - Unwilling; disinclined: reluctant to help.
- Unfurling - To spread or open (something) out or become spread or opened out.
- Mind's eye - The inherent mental ability to imagine or remember scenes. The imagination. .
- Gravely - Requiring serious thought; momentous: a grave decision in a time of crisis.
- Deadman's float - A floating position in which a person lies face down and extends the arms forward.
- Tidewater - Water that inundates land at flood tide or affected by the tides, especially tidal streams.
- Ebb - To fall away or back; decline or recede.
- Light-year - Used informally, it means a long way. In astronomy, it refers to the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year, or 5.88 trillion miles.
- Rancid - Having the disagreeable odor or taste of decomposing oils or fats.
- Carrion - Dead and decaying flesh.
- Ubiquitous - Seeming to be everywhere at the same time.
- Banal - Commonplace, predictable.
- Redolent - Having or emitting fragrance.
- Ditto - A duplicate or copy.
- Malodor - A bad odor.
- Anise - a spice from the Mediterranean whose scent and flavor is similar to black licorice.
- Offal - waste parts of a butchered animal.
- Pheromones - A chemical secreted by an animal in order to attract a member of the opposite sex.
- Atavistic - The return of a trait or pattern of behavior after an absence.
- Sculled - 'To scull' means to row a small boat with a pair of oars.
- Mail order - An item or object that is obtained through catalog order.
- Zinnias - A widely grown flower known for its showy, rayed, and colorful heads.
- Flourish - To make bold, sweeping movements.
- Disciplined - Used to describe someone who very strictly and carefully practices a skill with great self-control.
- Serifs - A fine line finishing off the main strokes of a letter, as at the top and bottom of the letter "M"
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