English 9B: Unit 4

Poetry by Alice Walker, Bashō, Chiyojo, Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare

Name______Date______

Writing About the Big Question

The Big Question: How does communication change us?

Big Question Vocabulary

aware communication comprehension discuss empathy

exchange illuminate informed interpretation meaning

react relationship resolution respond understanding

A.  Use one or more words from the list above to complete each sentence.

1. Good______often helps deepen a(n) ______between two people.

2. Kyra was______that she would have to improve her reading ______skills if she were to score well on that test.

3. We workers attended the meeting to______our grievances, but the management seemed to______with hostility.

4. The professor’s______of that story helped ______the______for us.

B. Follow the directions in responding to each of the items below.

1. List two poems from this unit that have changed your perception of a person, place, event, or situation.

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______

2. Write two sentences to explain how the poem changed your perception, and describe how this experience made you feel. Use at least two of the Big Question vocabulary words.

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______

C. Complete the sentence below. Then, write a short paragraph in which you connect the

sentence to the Big Question. Use at least two BQ vocabulary words in your paragraph and circle each one.

A powerful poem makes us aware of______

______

______

______

______

Literary Analysis: Lyric Poetry

Lyric poetry is poetry with a musical quality that expresses the thoughts and feelings of a

single speaker. Unlike a narrative poem, a lyric does not try to tell a complete story. Instead, it

describes an emotion or a mood, often by using vivid imagery, or language that appeals to the

senses. A lyric poem is relatively short and usually achieves a single, unified effect.

There are a variety of lyric forms that can create different effects:

• A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem that is written in iambic pentameter and that rhymes. Two

common sonnet types are the Italian, or Petrarchan, and the English, or Shakespearean. The

English, or Shakespearean, sonnet consists of three quatrains, or four-line stanzas, and a

final rhyming couplet.

• A haiku is an unrhymed Japanese verse form arranged into three lines of five, seven, and

five syllables. A haiku often uses a striking image from nature to convey a strong emotion.

• A free verse poem does not follow a regular pattern. Free verse employs sound and rhythmic

devices, such as alliteration and repetition, and may even use rhyme—but not in a

regular pattern, as in metered poetry.

DIRECTIONS: Analyze each poem. On the chart, write the type of lyric in the first column. Then, in the remaining columns, briefly describe the speaker of the poem, identify the speaker’s emotion, and quote an example of a striking image or sound device.

Author / Type of Lyric / Speaker / Emotion / Image/Sound Device
Walker
Bashō
Chiyojo (1)
Chiyojo (2)
Whitman
Shakespeare


Vocabulary Builder

Word List

intermission stout wail woes

A. DIRECTIONS: Revise each sentence so that the underlined vocabulary word is used logically.

Be sure not to change the vocabulary word.

1. Because she is stout of heart, she faces her future with great fear.

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2. The film was 3 hours long with no intermission; we were grateful for the break.

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3. He was cheerful as he recounted to us his many woes of the past year.

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4. So many misfortunes in a single day caused her to wail with happiness.

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B. DIRECTIONS: On the line, write the letter of the choice that is the best synonym, or word with

a similar meaning, for each numbered word.

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Grade 9, Unit 4

___ 1. wail

A. strike

B. publish

C. grieve

D. crawl

___ 2. woes

A. signals

B. factories

C. songs

D. sorrows

___ 3. intermission

A. analysis

B. break

C. communication

D. alliance

___ 4. stout

A. plentiful

B. sturdy

C. weary

D. energeti

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Grade 9, Unit 4

Write Your Own Poem

Use the space below to write your final draft of your own poem. You may write a sonnet, haiku, or free verse.

Title of Poem:
Lyric Form:

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Grade 9, Unit 4