Knock Knock - Figurative Language

What does the speaker feel while his father is away?

• excited because he gets to grow up on his own

• sad because he still needs to learn things from his father

• upset because his father never returns his letters

• heartbroken because his father dies in prison

Read this line:

...the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

The line above is an example of what type of figurative language?

• Simile

• Hyperbole

• Personification

• Metaphor

Why does the speaker's father leave?

• He goes to prison.

• He moves away.

• He decides that he doesn't love his son.

• He finds a new job.

How would you describe the father and son's relationship in lines 1-10?

• They don't see each other often.

• They don't know each other very well.

• They are close and have fun together.

• They have a better relationship than the son and his mother.

Which of the following describes what the speaker's father says to him in his dream?

• to overcome the obstacles he couldn't

• that his son needs him to become rich

• that his son's life will be impossible without him

• to forget the lessons he taught his son

How does the speaker feel about his future?

• He will always be haunted by his father's incarceration.

• It will be nearly impossible to undo the damage done by society's racism.

• His fate is partially determined by his father's choices.

• He has the power to determine his own fate.

Which of the following best supports the theme?

• There are some things that a boy can only learn from his father regardless of how independent he may be.

• The outcome of children is not determined by their parents, and instead children can learn from their parents' mistakes.

• Parents make choices that have a permanent impact on their children's futures, and this shouldn't be ignored.

• There are some mistakes made by parents that their children cannot forgive.

Which of the following supports the idea that children can learn from their parents' mistakes and build a great future for themselves?

• "I knock knock trying to break through the glass, / trying to get to my father." ( Lines 23-24)

• "And for years he has never said a word. / And so twenty-five years later, I write these words" ( Lines 27-28)

• "and I thought maybe you could teach me: / how to shave; / how to dribble a ball; / how to talk to a lady; / how to walk like a man." ( Lines 33-37)

• "The best of me still lives in you. / Knock knock with the knowledge that you are my son, but you are not my choices." ( Lines 59-60)

How does the first half of the poem (Lines 1-44) compare to the second half (Lines 45-69)?

• The first half of the poem addresses the speaker's desire to have his father in his life, while the second half shows that he is able succeed without him.

• The first half of the poem shows how dependent the speaker is on his father, while the second half proves that he doesn't need him.

• The first half of the poem shows how much the speaker needs his father, while the second half expresses his anger at him for being absent.

• The first half of the poem shows how close the speaker and his father were, while the second half reveals how much hatred he now has for his father.

Which of the following best shows that the son needs his father?

• "I knock knock as my mama pulls me away, / before my papa even says a word."

• "Papa, come home, cause there's things I don't know / and I thought maybe you could teach me:"

• "I'm sorry I never came home. / For every lesson I failed to teach, hear these words:"

• "Yes, we are our fathers' sons and daughters, / but we are not their choices"