Before Reading

When you stand on your head, the world looks very different, even unfamiliar. Turning upside down is one way of changing your perspective, or your way of seeing something. Perspective can also be a mental outlook, or a way of responding to things that happen. The poems you are about to read involve both physical and mental perspective. Both poems are written from the perspective of looking out a window, but they capture two very different responses.

LIST IT To get a sense of perspective, try looking a little differently at something you see every day. Roll a piece of paper to form a tube, and look through it at what’s around you. Make a list of everything you see. Did you notice anything that you hadn’t noticed before?

Windshield WiperPoem by Eve Merriam

Night Journey Poem by Theodore Roethke

How do you

SEE the world?

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RL 1 Cite textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text.

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Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook.

Eve Merriam1916–1992

Lover of Language Eve Merriam’s advice on how to appreciate poetry was “Eat it, drink it, enjoy it, and share it.” Merriam began writing poetry at age seven. She loved rhythm and rhyme and the way poems came to life when read aloud. After college, she continued to write poetry while working as a writer in advertising and radio. Merriam particularly enjoyed sharing her love of poetry with young readers.

Theodore Roethke1908–1963

Reluctant Poet Theodore Roethke spent his childhood reading and longed to write beautifully, but he struggled with the idea of becoming a poet. Worried about fi tting in, he went to law school—but quickly decided to become a poet after all. Roethke eventually won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry. Much of his work explores the natural world and memories of his childhood.

text analysis: sound devicesYou may have heard or read poems that sound almost like songs. Poetry gets many of its musical qualities from sound devices. Sound devices can reinforce meaning or add emphasis. Three commonly used sound devices are

• refrain, the repetition of a word, phrase, or line (Example: It was a good song, a sad song, a sweet song.)

• onomatopoeia (JnQE-mBtQE-pCPE), the use of words that sound like their meanings (Examples: buzz, zap)

• alliteration, the repetition of the same consonant sound, usually at the beginning of words (Example: magical mountain mist)

A poet might use these devices to draw attention to a particular line or idea. As you read “Windshield Wiper” and “Night Journey,” record examples of these devices.

Repetition and

Refrain

Onomatopoeia Alliteration

fog smog /

fog smog

reading skill: make inferencesYou have to make inferences when you read almost any text. An inference is an educated guess about some detail in a text that is not clear, or that seems to suggest a meaning well beyond its surface meaning. Poetry usually uses fewer words than a short story or a novel, so making inferences is one of the skills essential to understanding a poem. When you read a poem, ask yourself:

• Why has the poet chosen to structure the poem this way? How does the structure of the poem support its meaning?

• What do the images suggest about the way the writer feels about the subject?

• What do the metaphors mean? What is the significance of the comparisons the poet is making?

• How does the rhythm or meter of the poem support its meaning?

Meet the Authors

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Authors Online

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616 unit 5: the language of poetry

5

10

fog smog fog smog tissue paper tissue paper clear the blear clear the smear a

fog more fog more splat splat downpour

rubber scraper rubber scraper overshoes macintosh1

bumbershoot2 muddle on slosh through slosh through

drying up drying up sky lighter sky lighter nearly clear nearly clear

clearing clearing veer b

clear here clear

fog smog fog smog

Windshield Wiper

Eve Merriam

1. macintosh: raincoat.

2. bumbershoot: umbrella.

a MAKE INFERENCES

Why do you think the poet chooses to set the poem up in this way—with this unusual spacing?

b SOUND DEVICESHow does the repetition in these lines reflect the subject of the poem?

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618 unit 5: the language of poetry

5

10

15

20

25

Now as the train bears west, c

Its rhythm rocks the earth,And from my Pullman berth1

I stare into the nightWhile others take their rest. Bridges of iron lace, d

A suddenness of trees,A lap of mountain mistAll cross my line of sight,Then a bleak wasted place,And a lake below my knees.Full on my neck I feelThe straining at a curve;My muscles move with steel,I wake in every nerve.I watch a beacon swingFrom dark to blazing bright;We thunder through ravinesAnd gullies washed with light.Beyond the mountain passMist deepens on the pane;We rush into a rainThat rattles double glass. e

Wheels shake the roadbed stone,The pistons jerk and shove,I stay up half the nightTo see the land I love.

1. Pullman berth: A Pullman is a type of railroad car invented by George Pullman (1831–1897). The sleeping car featured private beds called berths.

c SOUND DEVICESOne sound device poets use is rhythm, the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables. Read this poem aloud to feel its rhythm. How do the short rhythmic lines remind you of the motion of the train?

e SOUND DEVICESWhat sound device appears in lines 18, 23, and 25? Record your answer in your chart.

d MAKE INFERENCES

A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things, which helps you see something in a new way. What is the metaphor in line 6? How does it help you visualize the bridge?

Theodore RoethkeNight Journey

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“Windshield Wiper” “Night Journey”

Rhyming Words

and Phrases

blear / smear

620 unit 5: the language of poetry

After Reading

Comprehension 1. Clarify What kinds of weather are described in “Windshield Wiper”?

2. Recall Name three things that the speaker sees in “Night Journey.”

Text Analysis 3. Understand Structure Take another look at the unusual way in which

“Windshield Wiper” is arranged on the page. What does it mean when that space in the center disappears in lines 13 and 14?

4. Make Inferences Why does the poet arrange “Windshield Wiper” in an unusual way? How does the structure of the poem support its meaning?

5. Examine Word Choice Skim “Night Journey” and list all the words you can find that convey movement. Compare lists with a partner.

6. Analyze Sound Devices What sound devices did you find in each poem? Review your chart to see where each poet uses refrain, onomatopoeia, and alliteration. Which sound device is used most often in each poem?

7. Analyze Rhyme Create a chart like the one shown, and list the rhyming words or phrases in each poem. In which poem does rhyme have a more important role? Explain.

Extension and Challenge 8. SOCIAL STUDIES CONNECTION Read the excerpt from A Long

Hard Journey that begins on page 623. What further information does the excerpt provide about the speaker’s trip in “Night Journey”?

How do you SEE the world?Reread the list of observations you made for the activity on page 614. Now look at the same scene again, without the paper tube. Did your observations change when you changed your perspective?

RL 1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

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Language grammar in context: Maintain Subject-Verb AgreementYou have already learned that a verb must agree with its subject in number. A compound subject is made up of two or more subjects joined by a conjunction, such as and or or. This conjunction is the clue that tells you whether to use a singular or plural verb in the sentence. A compound subject joined by and usually takes a plural verb. If a compound subject is joined by or, the verb should agree with the part of the subject closer to it.

Original: Bells or the train whistle mean the train is arriving.Revised: Bells or the train whistle means the train is arriving.

PRACTICE Choose the verb form that agrees with each compound subject.

1. A dining car or comfortable seats (makes, make) the trip more enjoyable. 2. My mother and I (plays, play) board games to pass the time. 3. My uncle and my grandparents (was, were) there to meet the train. 4. The conductor or the engineer (rings, ring) the whistle as the train leaves.

For more help with subject-verb agreement with compound subjects, see page R65 in the Grammar Handbook.

reading-writing connectionBroaden your understanding of “The Windshield Wiper” and “Night Journey” by responding to the prompt. Then use the revising tip to improve your writing.

YOUR

TURN

Extended Constructed Response: Analysis“Windshield Wiper” and “Night Journey” differ greatly in their structure—even in the way they look on the page. The poems also differ in their messages—in what they say to you. In a three-paragraph essay analyze each poem, paying particular attention to the structure of each poem and to the message the poet is sending you. Use one paragraph to talk about “Windshield Wiper,” use another paragraph to talk about “Night Journey,” and use the final paragraph to tell how you responded to each poem and why.

Review your essay. Make sure each sentence has correct subject-verb agreement. If you find an error, correct it when you revise your essay.

writing prompt revising tip

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InteractiveRevision

windshield wiper / night journey 621

L 1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of grammar. W 2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic.

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