ENG1DB PRACTICE Poetry Analysis Test 1B Sample Student Responses for “The Child Who Walks Backwards” by Lorna Crozia

  • Below are some of the BEST student responses from section #1B for the PRACTICE Poetry Analysis Test that exemplify effective poetry analysis skills, an accurate interpretation of the poem, and developed critical thinking skills. Consider that some of these responses may still need work, but they are definitely on the right track! Consider: What are the positive aspects of each response, and what are some areas that still require improvement? Use these answer examples to help you structure your own responses on the actual Poetry Analysis Test (please remember that this evaluation will be written in-class on Tuesday April 3rd).

QUESTION #1:

Identify and explain the tone of this poem. Connect to the speaker’s word choice to help you. Include a direct quotation from the poem as support for your observations. (5 marks)

ANSWER:

The tone of this poem is skeptical. This is proven when the speaker says, “This child who climbed my maple/with the sureness of a cat/rips in his room, cracks/his skull on the bedpost.” In these lines, the speaker highlights the contrast between what they have seen of the child, and what his mother tells them. The speaker shows skepticism in comparing the child to a cat, generally considered to be an agile creature, and they seem to believe that the child cannot be this different in his house. The speaker therefore shows doubt for the credibility of the child’s mother in saying that the injuries are the result of clumsiness, and the speaker seems to believe what they have seen over what they have heard. The entire poem carries this skeptical tone as the speaker compares the facts and stories, highlighting the most unbelievable parts of what they have been told.(A very thoughtful response, Holly!)

ANSWER:

The tone of “The Child Who Walks Backwards”, by Lorna Crozia, is a tone of disbelief. This can be inferred in lines eleven to twelve when the speaker says, “This child who climbed my maple with the sureness of a cat”, yet the speaker continues to talk about the injuries that the child has obtained due to the fact that he “walks backwards”. The injuries that the child has, such as shapes in his face, a cracked skull, and burns on the back of his knees, are not wounds that a child would get without them being inflicted upon him by someone stronger. The speaker appears to believe that the child does not get his injuries from “walking backwards”, but instead, gets these injuries from abuse. The tone of the poem is disbelief, because the injuries that the child has are from abuse, yet the mother leads people to believe otherwise.(Fantastic inferencing skills, Ashley!)

QUESTION #2:

What is the theme of this poem? What main message is the author/speaker attempting to impart on his readers?Include a direct quotation from the poem as support for your observations.(5 marks)

ANSWER:

The theme of this poem is that many bad things can happen behind closed doors. This is seen in lines 11-13 when the speaker says, “This child who climbed my maple with the sureness of a cat, rips in his room….” Here the speaker is trying to help readers infer that inside the neighbour’s house, the mother of the child abuses him. The speaker states that the child once climbed up a maple tree with lots of confidence, however, at home he cracks his skull, and ‘injures himself’, which clearly is not what is actually happening behind closed doors. In the poem, the speaker talks about how the child’s mother is talking to the speaker. Since the reader is not given access to the child’s point of view, readers can infer that the mother is harming the child, but she is claiming that the child injures himself. Readers can only infer what happens behind the closed doors of the neighbour’s house, and cannot know the full story. Therefore, the theme of this poem truly is that many bad things can happen behind closed doors.(Good connections, Zara!)

  • Note: Many students struggled with correctly and thoroughly analyzing their chosen figurative language device in question #3. Please refer to the sample answers for question #3 on the first handout given in class. Thank you!