Fat is Not a Fairy Tale
-Jane Yolen
1 I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
5 where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.
I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
10 Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.
15 I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
20 where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess
List symbols (ex: elephant) / What do you think those symbols mean? (ex. elephant represents being overweight)***This helpful box will NOT be on STAAR. Try to remember these steps:
First, break down the prompt. (Identify the tone. What is it? Identify the meaning? What is it?)
Answer the question. (Use their sentence stem if you need to!) Ex: In “Fat is Not a Fairy Tale” by Jane Yolen, the author’s tone of _____ helps develop the meaning of the poem, which is that ______.)
Prove it! (Use text evidence. Don’t just “drop the quote” in: The image of a cat is used. “The clawing of its feline face.” Introduce the quote! “The author’s use of cat imagery in line 4, “the clawing of its feline face…” helps to…”)
Explain it! (Really explain your answer, show how effective your text evidence is, leave the reader going “Hmm.. I never thought of that.”)
Last, score yourself to see if you would be a “3” exemplary. If not, FIX IT! The rubric is also not shown during STAAR so try to remember what you need for a “3.”
What do the objects in line 21 of the poem symbolize? Use Evidence from the text to support your answer.