Before Reading

Have you ever read a story that completely surprised you? Perhaps you were surprised by what happened to its characters or the feeling it gave you when you finished reading. Poetry can also surprise us because the poet uses language in an especially original way. Figures of speech (similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole), images, and sounds can make a poem totally surprising—and memorable.

DISCUSS In this section you will find three poems. One is about being a nobody, one is about the moon, and one is about a moose. Discuss for a few minutes what aspect of each subject you imagine each poem will focus on. After you read the poems, see if they surprised you.

How can POETRYsurprise you?

I’m Nobody! Who are You?Poem by Emily Dickinson

Is the Moon Tired?Poem by Christina Rossetti

MoosesPoem by Ted Hughes

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Garfield

S ES E C T I O N C T H E S TTA R JJ O U R N AR N A L L CC 9

GARFIELD © 1995 Paws, Inc. Reprinted with permission

of Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved.628

RL 1 Cite textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RL 4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative meanings. RL 6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the speaker in a text.

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Emily Dickinson1830–1886

Famous Nobody Emily Dickinson kept to herself and rarely left home. Only seven of her poems were published before her death. After Dickinson died, her family discovered a collection of nearly 1,800 other poems and had them published. Today she is considered one of the greatest American poets.

Christina Rossetti1830–1894

Quiet Artist Christina Rossetti came from a talented family of poets, writers, and painters. She resisted fame, however, and “went very little into society.” Poor health was one reason for her solitary life.

Ted Hughes1930–1998

Natural Poet Ted Hughes grew up hunting in the woods of rural England. Later he avoided hunting, preferring to write poetry about the “aliveness of animals in their natural states.”

Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook.

text analysis: figurative languageFigurative language is language based on imaginative comparisons. Writers use figurative language to describe a part of life in memorable and original ways. As you read, look for the following types of figurative language.

• A simile is a comparison of two things, using the words like or as. (Her eyes were like green emeralds.)

• A metaphor is a comparison of two things without the words like or as. (Her eyes were green emeralds.)

• Personification is the giving of human qualities to something that is not human. (The sun smiled down on us.)

• Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration for effect. (The sun burned us to a crisp.)

Review: Sound Devices

reading skill: make inferencesWhen you read poetry, you will have to make inferences, or educated guesses, about the poem’s meaning. To make an inference, you use details from the text, plus what you know from your own experience. As you read, record each inference you make in a graphic organizer like the one shown.

Lines in Poem My Knowledge Inference

“I’m Nobody!”

(line 1) +

When someone is

called a “nobody,”

it could mean

“nobody special. ”

=

The speaker is

very ordinary.

vocabulary in contextIn two of the poems you are about to read, the following words are used to create images or metaphors. Use the correct word to complete the sentences that follow.

word list

blunder cackle dreary lectern

1. It would be _____, not fun, to be a somebody. 2. The moose is tall and sturdy like a high wooden _____. 3. The dry underbrush seems to _____ at the ugly moose. 4. Clumsy and lost, he will _____ on through the woods.

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Meet the Authors

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630 unit 5: the language of poetry

5

I’m Nobody! Who are you?Are you—Nobody—Too?Then there’s a pair of us!Don’t tell! they’d advertise—you know!

How dreary—to be—Somebody!How public—like a Frog—To tell one’s name—the livelong June—To an admiring Bog!1 a

Emily Dickinson

1. bog: an area of soft, waterlogged ground.

dreary (drîrPC) adj. dismal, bleak, or boring

a FIGURATIVE

LANGUAGEIn lines 5–8, the speaker uses a simile to compare a public person—“Somebody”—to a frog, and uses a metaphor to compare the public to a “Bog.” Are these flattering comparisons? Explain why or why not.

Detail of The Son of Man (1964), René Magritte. © 2008 C. Herscovici, Brussels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo © Christie’s Images/Corbis.

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5

Is the moon tired? she looks so paleWithin her misty veil: b

She scales the sky from east to west,And takes no rest.

Before the coming of the nightThe moon shows papery white;Before the dawning of the dayShe fades away. c

Christina RossettiIs the Moon Tired?

i’m nobody! who are you? / is the moon tired? 631

b MAKE INFERENCES

What is the “misty veil” mentioned in line 2?

c FIGURATIVE

LANGUAGEWhat words does Rossetti use to personify the moon?

Detail of The Masterpiece on the Mysteries (1955), René Magritte. Oil on canvas. © 2008 C. Herscivici,

Brusssels/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo © Christie’s Images/SuperStock.

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632 unit 5: the language of poetry

The goofy Moose, the walking-house frame, d

Is lostIn the forest. He bumps, he blunders, he stands.

With massy bony thoughts sticking out near his ears—Reaching out palm upwards, to catch whatever might be

falling from heaven—He tries to think,Leaning their huge weightOn the lectern of his front legs.

He can’t find the world!Where did it go? What does a world look like?The MooseCrashes on, and crashes into a lake, and stares at the

mountain and cries“Where do I belong? This is no place!”

He turns and drags half the lake out after him e

And charges the cackling underbrush—

He meets another Moose. He stares, he thinks “It’s only a mirror!”

5

10

15

Ted Hughes

d FIGURATIVE LANGUAGEReread line 1. Explain why you think the poet uses this metaphor to describe the moose.

blunder (blOnPdEr) v. to move clumsily

lectern (lDkPtErn) n. a stand that holds papers for someone standing up to deliver a speech or lecture

cackle (kBkPEl) v. to make a sound of shrill laughter or chatter

e FIGURATIVE LANGUAGEWhat hyperbole—or exaggeration—can you find in line 16?

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“Where is the world?” he groans, “O my lost world!And why am I so ugly?And why am I so far away from my feet?”

He weeps.Hopeless drops drip from his droopy lips. f

The other Moose just stands there doing the same.

Two dopes of the deep woods. g

20

25

mooses 633

f SOUND DEVICES

How does the alliteration in line 24—the repetition of consonant sounds in words close together—help you to picture the moose?

g MAKE INFERENCES

Who might the speaker be referring to in the last line?

Splash, Nancy Glazier. Oil, 26˝ × 34˝.

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After Reading

“goof

y”

Funny“ho

peles

s dro

ps”

Sad

Comprehension 1. Recall In “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” why doesn’t the speaker want to be

a “somebody”?

2. Clarify What does the speaker in “Is the Moon Tired?” think made the moon tired and pale?

3. Clarify In “Mooses,” what does the speaker think of mooses?

Text Analysis4. Make Inferences What does the speaker in “I’m Nobody! Who are You?”

think about the public? How does the poem connect with Dickinson’s own experiences as a poet?

5. Draw Conclusions Do you think the speaker in “I’m Nobody! Who are You?” means what she says about fame? Explain.

6. Understand Figurative Language Find the metaphors used to describe the moose in lines 1 and 9 of “Mooses.” What does the metaphor in line 4 describe?

7. Evaluate Inferences Look back at the chart you completed as you read the poems. Compare your charts in class. Do you all agree on the inferences you made about each poem’s meaning?

8. Make Judgments Reread “Mooses” and use a web like the one shown to record details in the poem that are funny or sad. Is “Mooses” a mostly sad poem or a mostly humorous one? Support your judgments with details from the poem.

Extension and Challenge 9. Creative Project: Writing We often think of the things around us, such

as cars, computers, or pets, as having personalities of their own. Choose an animal or object. Using personification, write a poem that shows the animal or object you chose with human qualities. Share your poem with the class.

How can POETRY surprise you?Discuss in class the element of surprise in these poems: Did each poem include something that you did not expect? Think of language as well as message.

634 unit 5: the language of poetry

RL 1 Cite textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text. RL 4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative meanings. RL 6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the speaker in a text.

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Vocabulary in Context vocabulary practiceTo show your understanding of the vocabulary words, choose the letter of the term that is most closely related to the boldfaced word.

1. blunder: (a) dance, (b) cook, (c) stumble, (d) mumble2. lectern: (a) voter, (b) guide, (c) desk, (d) chair3. cackle: (a) laugh, (b) gather, (c) cry, (d) punish4. dreary: (a) heavy, (b) gloomy, (c) ready, (d) old

academic vocabulary in speaking

Poets use figurative language to describe aspects of life in a unique way. With a partner, discuss a specific example of figurative language from one of the poems. What is your reaction to the poet’s use of figurative language? What insight about life did the poet hope to make? Use at least two Academic Vocabulary words in your discussion.

vocabulary strategy: the latin root lectThe vocabulary word lectern contains the Latin root lect, which means “to choose” or “to read.” This root appears in many English words. You can use other word parts and context clues to figure out the meaning of words containing the root lect.

PRACTICE Choose the word from the web shown that best completes each sentence. Use context clues, or, if necessary, use a dictionary.

1. We held a(n) _______ to decide who would be in charge of the Student Council.

2. People in other parts of the country may speak a different _______ of English.

3. Since this store has such a great _______, you can buy nearly anything here.

4. The teacher’s ________ on literature was long, but interesting. 5. The house had been abandoned for years and showed signs of

_______.

• associations • device • insight • reaction • specific

blunder

cackle

dreary

lectern

lect

selection

dialectlecture

election

neglect

lectern

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InteractiveVocabulary

i’m nobody! who are you? / is the moon tired? / mooses 635

L 4b Use Latin roots as clues to the meaning of a word.

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