Mother to Son

By Langston Hughes
Well, son, Ill tell you:
Life for me aint been no crystal stair.
Its had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
Bare.
But all the time
Ise been a-climbin on,
And reachin landins
And turnin corners,
And sometimes goin in the dark
Where there aint been no light.
So boy, dont you turn back.
Dont you set down on the steps
Cause you finds its kinder hard.
Dont you fall now
For Ise still goin, honey,
Ise still climbin,
And life for me aint been no crystal stair.

Speaker: -the voice the reader hears while reading the poem
like the narrator in a short story is called the speaker. In some
poems, the speaker expresses the feelings of the poet. When
reading a poem, it is usually important to get a sense of who the
speaker is in order to fully understand the work.

Mother to Son
Poetry Review Questions
Page 192

Before Reading:
1. Connect to you life: What kinds of problems do people
experience?
2. Connect to you life: What kinds of barriers are difficult to
overcome?
After Reading:
3. What is a poems speaker?
4. What does it mean to make inferences?
5. Look at the poem and determine its form.

Speech to the Young:

Speech to the Progress-Toward
By Gwendolyn Brooks
Say to them,
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,
the self-soilers,
the armony-hushers,
Even if you are not ready for day
it cannot always be night.
You will be right.
For that is the hard home-run.
Life not for battles won.
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along.

Speech to the Young

Poetry Review Questions
Page 192

1. Who do you think the speaker is in Speech to the Young? What

makes you think that?
2. What kind of person is the speaker? What evidence can you find
from the text to support your answer?
3. Identify repeated words and alliterations in Speech to the
Young. How does this repetition affect the reader?
4. What do you think about the advice given by the speaker in
Brooks poem?
5. What phrases in the poem refer to people who have a negative
effect on others?
6. According to the speaker, what should the reader say to such
people?
7. What do you think is the meaning of the last three lines of the
poem?
8. In your opinion, what does the speaker think is in danger of being
lost if young people do not follow the advice given in the
poem?
9. What might make the advice difficult to follow?
10. What character trait is shared by the people in lines 2 though
5? Do you know anyone like this? Describe them.
11. Which poem, Speech to the Young or Mother to Son seems
more hopeful? Explain your answer.
12. Which of the two poems do you think offers the best advice for
a teenager today? Give reasons for your choice.

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
Written 1854

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Sound devices: Poetry is meant to be read aloud. In the poem you are about
to read, the poet uses short lines and phrases to create a fast-paced
rhythm, or beat, as he describes the sights and sounds of battle. Read the
poem aloud several times and listen to the poems rhythm. Notice examples
of rhyme (a likeness of sounds at the ends of words), such as shell and fell,
and the repetition of short words and phrases. Be aware of how such sound
devices contribute to the poems overall impact.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Poetry Review Questions
Page 197
Before Reading
1. Write about a time when you witnessed or heard about an act of
bravery.
2. What is bravery?
3. What is Rhythm?
4. What is a narrative poem?
After Reading
5. What is an example of repetition in the poem?
6. What is an example of rhyme from the poem?
7. What is an example of alliteration from the poem?
8. Narrative poems contain elements of a plot: exposition, rising
action, climax, and falling action.
9. Copy a line from the poem that is an example of the exposition.
10. Copy a line from the poem that is an example of the rising
action.
11. Copy a line from the poem that is an example of the climax.
12. Copy a line from the poem that is an example of the falling
action.
13. Why does the brigade receive the order to charge?
14. What is waiting for them in the valley?
15. What is the outcome of the charge?
16. What image you consider most powerful in the poem? Describe
it. Why did you choose this image?
17. How do you think the speaker of the poem feels about the Light
Brigade? Support your answer.
18. Do you consider the soldiers of the Light Brigade to be heroes?
Why or why not?
19. What is the theme of this poem?

The Willow and Gingko

by Eve Merriam
The willow is like an etching,
Fine-lined against the sky.
The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,
Hardly worthy to be signed.
The willows music is like a soprano
Delicate and thin.
The ginkgos tune is like a chorus
With everyone joining in.
The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;
The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull.
The willows branches are like silken thread;
The ginkgos like stubby rough wool.
The willow is like a nymph with streaming hair;
Wherever it grows, there is green and gold and fair.
The willow dips to the water,
Protected and precious, like the kings favorite daughter.
The ginkgo forces its way through gray concrete:
Like a city child, it grows up in the street.
Thrust against the metal sky,
Somehow it survives and even thrives.

My eyes feast upon the willow,

But my heart goes to the ginkgo.
Figurative Language: Poets can present ordinary things in fresh ways by
using figurative language language that communicates ideas beyond the
normal literal meanings of the words. Two types of figurative language are
similes and metaphors. A simile is a comparison of two similar things using
like or as. A metaphor is a comparison of two similar things without using
like or as.

 A Loaf of Poetry
by Naoshi Koriyama
you mix
the dough
of experience
with
the yeast
of inspiration
and knead it well
with love
and pound it
with all your might
and then
leave it
until
it puffs out big
with its own inner force
and then
knead it again
and
shape it
into a round form
and bake it
in the oven
of your heart

The Willow and Gingko and A Loaf of Poetry

Poetry Review Questions
Page 215
Before Reading
1. Choose someone famous or someone you admire. If he or she were a plant
or an animal, what plant or animal would he or she be? Why?
2. What is figurative language?
3. What is a simile?
4. What is a metaphor?
5. What is imagery?
After Reading
6. In a sentence or two, describe the speakers opinions of the willow and
the gingko.
7. Which sensory details in this poem do you response to strongly? To which
senses do they appeal?
8. What image in this poem could you picture most clearly?
9. Find two examples of similes in Willow and Ginkgo.
10. What are the ingredients of a loaf of poetry? What is the heart
compared to in this poem?
11. Other than the title, find two examples of metaphors in A Loaf of
Poetry.
12. Why do you think the speaker of A Loaf Of Poetry compares writing a
poem to baking a loaf of bread?
13. Look at the form of A Loaf of Poetry. Why do you think the writer
used short lines and no stanzas?
14. Do you think the speaker enjoys the writing process? Which words and
phrases in the poem support your opinion?
15. How does the recipe given in this poem compared with your own view
of the writing process? Explain your answer.
16. In your opinion, which of the two poems appeals more to your senses?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

Poetic form: the way a poem looks. Or is arranged, on a page is its poetic
form. The words of a poem are written in lines, which can vary in length. In
some poems, lines are grouped together in stanzas. In poems that have a
traditional form, each line has the same number of syllables, and each stanza
has the same number of lines. For example, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening has eight syllables in each line, and four lines in each stanza. It
also has a regular pattern of rhyme, which reinforces the form.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Poetry Review Questions
Page 390
Before Reading:
1. What words and phrases come to mind when you hear the word
snow?
After Reading:
2. Who is the speaker of the poem?
3. What is the setting of the story? (Time and Place)
4. What is being described in the story?
5. Where does the speaker decide to go?
6. What is the speakers internal conflict?
7. When is the speakers conflict resolved?
8. What might his journey represent?
9. What deeper meaning can you find in this poem other than a
snowy wood?

A Journey

By Nikki Giovanni
Its a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor
technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .

Though the rail has been ridden . . . winter clouds cover . . .

autumns exuberant quilt . . . we must provide our own
guideposts . . .

I have heard . . . from previous visitors . . . the road washes

out sometimes . . . and passengers are compelled . . . to
continue groping . . . or turn back . . . I am not afraid . . .

I am not afraid . . . of rough spots . . . or lonely times . . . I

dont fear . . . the success of this endeavor . . . I am Ra . . . in
a space . . . not to be discovered . . . but invented . . .

I promise you nothing . . . I accept your promise of the

same we are simply riding . . . a wave . . . that may carry . . .
or crash . . .

Its a journey . . . and I want . . . to go . . .

Knoxville, Tennessee
By Nikki Giovanni

I always like summer

best
you can eat fresh corn
from daddys garden
and okra
and greens
and cabbage
and lots of
barbecue
and buttermilk
and homemade ice-cream
at the church picnic
and listen to
gospel music
outside
at the church
homecoming
and go to the mountains with
your grandmother
and go barefoot
and be warm
all the time
not only when you go to bed
and sleep

Form: The way a poem looks and is arranged on a page is known as

its form. Sometimes poems follow traditional patterns with the
same number of syllables in each line and the same number of lines
in each stanza, a group of lines in a poem.

A Journey & Knoxville, Tennessee

Poetry Review Questions
Page 422
1. What is a poetic form?
2. What are stanzas?
3. Is the journey described in A Journey going to be easy or
difficult? Explain your response.
4. What do you think the journey might symbolize? Think about:
the words The rail has been ridden and the words in a space
. . . not to be discovered . . . but invented.
5. Would you like to spend time in the Knoxville that Giovanni
describes? Explain your answer.
6. What foods are mentioned in Knoxville, Tennessee?
7. Where does the speaker listen to music?
8. Where does the speaker go with the grandmother?
9. When does the speaker feel warm?
10.Is the speaker of Knoxville, Tennessee a child? Explain your
response.
11. Compare the speakers in A Journey and Knoxville,
Tennessee. How are they alike? How are they different?
12.Would you rather take the trip described in the poem A
Journey or stay in the place described in Knoxville,
Tennessee? Explain your response. Think about: the
difficulties of the trip in A Journey and the speakers
attitude toward Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee.
13.What if the two poems were combined and the place
described in Knoxville, Tennessee was the destination of the
trip described in A Journey? Would you find the new poem
satisfying? Explain your response.
14.Look at your own lifes journey. Choose metaphors to describe
where you have come from and where you are going.
15.In both A Journey and Knoxville, Tennessee the speaker
refers to you. Choose one poem and rewrite it from the
point of view of the person to whom the speaker is talking.