Your Name: Rachael Doyle

Date: Week 7

Genre: Poetry

Literary Analysis
Bibliographic Information:
Martin Jr., B. & Sampson, M. (2005). The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry. New York: Simon
& Schuster Childrens Publishing.
Plot:
Tell A Good Story

I believe that even though this is a poetry book, each individual poem is wonderful. I enjoyed the
poems in this book very much so I believe that it is not only appealing to children, but to adults
as well.
Identifiable Climax

Because this is 1 anthology that includes poetry from many poets, there is no distinct beginning,
middle and end. So there is no climax in this book.
Setting:
Location

There is no specific location that can be applied to this poetry book as a whole. Each poem may
or may not have a specified location.
Time

The poems in this book are divided into eleven different sections. Some of those sections can
apply to time. For example Around the Year (applied to holidays) and School Time (poems
about school).
Theme:
Does The Story Have A Theme

I believe that the themes are labeled by the different sections that the poems are divided into. The
eleven different themes in the poetry book are Animals, World of Nature, Around the Year,
People and Places, School Time, Me and My Feelings, Family and Home, Food for Me,
Nonsense, and Mother Goose.
Theme is Obviously Stated

Each poem itself may have a theme but all of the poems in one section follow very closely to
whatever section its put into. In the table of contents, each of the sections are listed, as well as
all of the poems that belong to that heading. I believe that because all of the poems are divided
and put under headings, the themes are obviously stated. For example, some of the poems listed
under Mother Goose are Hey Diddle, Diddle, Little Boy Blue, Black Sheep, and Hickory
Dickory Dock all nursery rhymes.

Characterization:
Is Behavior Consistent

There are a lot of children as characters within these poems. They follow childrens behaviors
very accurately. For example, the poem Speak Clearly on page 134 is about a mother trying to
talk to his son while his mouth is full and that he should mind his manners. Most, if not all,
children are told not to talk with their mouth full.
Diverse Groups of People

There is one poem specifically that stood out to me in the Around the Year section. Its on page
64 titled Happy Hanukkah! and the page next to it is a poem about Christmas. This book
displays two different religious holidays and thats how the author shows a diverse group of
people.

Style:
Appropriate

I find the style to be completely appropriate. The poems shouldnt be kept serious its a
childrens book of poetry. A majority of the poems are fun and silly.
Author Creating Mood

The author definitely creates a fun, playful mood through the colorful language and illustrations.
For example, on page 152-153 theres a poem called Eat-It-All-Elaine about a summer camper
who ate everything, from Kleenex, to birch-bark to sand. Theres an illustration of Elaine
chewing on a tree.
Point of View:
Appropriateness

The various poems display either first or third person point of view. I believe that the purpose of
the book is to entertain and I think that the different points of view does well with the overall
effect and knowledge of the poems.
Particular Point of View

The different authors chose the particular points of view per each poem to appropriately tell the
story the author wanted to tell. Each poem is told perfectly and nothing seems off in the point of
view that its told.
Describe Characteristics of this text specific to the genre:
Natural or Contrived Rhyming

There is a mixture of natural rhymes and contrived rhymes within the different poems. Its
an anthology of poetry from many poets so I believe that it depends on the specific author
and their writing/rhyming style.
Tone; Childhood in a Sentimental/Nostalgic Way

All of the poems are very light in tone. The subject matter and illustrations are very light

overall and none of the poems talk down to childhood in any way whatsoever. There is a
whole section dedicated to nursery rhymes and that most definitely brought up my
childhood!
Shape Contribute to Meaning

Not all poems in this book are shaped a different way. Again, because this is an anthology
filled with many poets, it all depends on the authors/poets style. A majority of the poems
consists of normal form and stanzas. There is one on page 20, A Bird Came Down the
Walk by Emily Dickinson and each stanza is two lines and they go diagonally back and
forth like a zigzag. This shows movement and it contributes to the meaning because the
poem is about someone seeing the bird coming down the walk and doing different things.
Reflections:
I LOVED this book!! I had a wonderful time reading through the poems. There are so many
poems about different subjects, I would love to have this book in my classroom. The poems in
this book are very short so they could be read aloud between transitions or during morning and
afternoon announcements.