Analyzing the Text
Cite Text Evidence
Support your responses with evidence from the text.
1. Interpret What is the theme, or overall message, of this poem? Explain how the sound devices in the poem help to communicate that theme.
2. Identify Patterns Reread lines 6–7. What sound device is used in these lines, and what effect does it have?
3. Analyze Reread lines 8–11. How does the speaker use parallelism to emphasize chance?
4. Cause/Effect Examine line 16. Identify the sound device used, and explain how it affects the ending of the stanza.
5. Infer What two sound devices are used in the lines “by a step, a hairsbreadth / by sheer coincidence”? What impact does this combination of sound devices have?
6. Evaluate Reread stanzas 2 and 3. What does the poet do to establish rhythm in this part of the poem? How does that rhythm enhance the speaker’s message?
7. Draw Conclusions The tone of a literary work expresses the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject. Describe the overall tone of the poem, as well as the tone in line 23, “There’s no end to my wonder, my silence.”
PERFORMANCE TASK
Writing Activity: Analysis Respond to the poem by analyzing its connection to the topic of this collection.
• With a partner, discuss the poem’s theme and how it relates to the themes present in other selections within the collection.
• Compare and contrast how similar ideas are presented across the texts.
• Identify the relationships you see between the poem’s language and the events described in the other texts.
• Write one draft of your response, and then share it with your partner. Use your partner’s feedback to improve and finalize your analysis.
• Publish your responses in a collection you can share with the whole class.
RL 1, RL 2, RL 4, W 1a–e, W 4, W 9a, W 10
