Language Arts, Reading Poetry

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(28.)


Poetry

Reading poetry is different from reading prose. You will need to pay attention to certain characteristics of a poem in order to understand its meaning.

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Make sure you consider a poem's:

• form

•structure

• rhythm

• rhyme scheme

• imagery

It may be helpful to use your imagination to picture what the poet is conveying in his or her poem.

Front 2

(29.)


Poetry

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
- Robert Frost
The title of this poem implies

(1) a major choice in one's life was made.

(2) a change in career.

(3) a hike through the woods.

(4) the theme will have to do with travelling.

(5) the author takes a wrong turn.

Back 2

The correct answer is (1) a major choice in one's life was made.

"The Road Not Taken" most likely refers to a choice the author was given at one point in his life, but that he did not take.

Front 3

(30.)


Poetry

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

- Tennyson,"Ulysses"

The form of this poem is
(1) ballad (4) lyric
(2) limerick (5) none of the above
(3) sonnet

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The correct answer is (5) none of the above.

The excerpt is from a free verse poem, and choices 1-4 all have a specific rhyme pattern.

Front 4

(31.)


Poetry

Build me straight, O worthy Master!
Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel,
That shall laugh at all disaster,
And with way and whirlwind wrestle! . . .

- Longfellow, "The Building of the Ship"

The last line of the excerpt it is an example of
(1) simile (4) allusion
(2) metaphor (5) irony
(3) alliteration

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The correct answer is (3) alliteration.

The "w" sound has been repeated.
And (w)ith (w)ave (w)hirl(w)ind (w)restle!

Front 5

(32.)


Poetry

A (limerick) has five lines in which lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme.

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Example of limerick:

There was a young person of Smyrna
Whose grandmother threatened to burn her;
But she seized on the cat,
and said 'Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old women of Smyrna!'
-Edward Lear, 1845

The poem is a limerick Because it has five lines, and lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with each other (Smyrna, burn her, Smyrna), and lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other (cat that).

Front 6

(33.)


Poetry

When reading poetry:

• Use your imagination.

• Picture the images presented

• Read aloud, noting the rhythm and rhyme, as well as the sounds.

• Study the form and structure.

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TIPS

Before the GED reading poems. Decide how they make you feel and then look for literary device is used, such as personification, rhyme, and rhythm. It may also help you to read several commentaries or reviews online of various poems. Knowing what other people say about a particular poem will help you determine the meaning of that poem if it appears on the GED.

Front 7

(34.)


Poetry

In poetry, a (rhyme) occurs when the final sounds are the same in two or more of the words.

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Example:

Oh Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is (done),
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is (won),
- Walt Whitman,"O Captain! My Captain!"

Note: done and won rhyme.

Front 8

(35.)


Poetry

In Poetry, a (stanza) is a unit in a poem like a paragraph usually of four or more lines.

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A House upon the Height-
That Wagon never reached-
No Dead, were ever carried down- Stanza 1
No Peddler's cart- approached-

Whose Chimney never smoked-
Whose windows - Night and Morn-
Caught Sunrise first - and Sunset - last- Stanza 2
Then - held an Empty Pane-

Whose fate - Conjecture knew-
No other neighbor - did -
And what it was - we never lisped- Stanza 3
Because He - never told-

Front 9

(36.)


Poetry

You will not be asked to determine if a poem (sonnet) or (ballad). However, knowing the difference between the two will help you in determining the author's (purpose) or the (tone) of the poem.

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TIPS

• A Sonnet- has 14 lines. The first eight (an octet) usually follow the ABBAABBA pattern, and the second six (a sestet) follow a different pattern.

• A ballad- is a poem in simple story form that has a particular rhyme pattern.

Front 10

(37.)


Poetry

A (literal) interpretation is reading the poem at "face value."

A (figurative) interpretation is reading the poem to determine the meaning or implied meaning from the words.

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TIP

When reading port reconsider both the (literal) and (figurative) meanings.
You will be asked questions about both types on the GED.

Front 11

(38.)


Poetry

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I love the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this!
- Poe,"The Tell-Tale Heart"

The above short story is told in which point of view ?

(1) 1st person

(2) 3rd person (limited)

(3) 3rd person

(4) none of the above

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The correct answer is one first person.

The narrator of the story uses "I" and "me" when giving his account.