Unit 1: "A Voice" and "Words Like Freedom"

Read lines 6-16 of "A Voice".

Not you. In your house that smelled like rose powder, you spoke Spanish formal as your father, the judge without a courtroom in the country he floated to in the dark on a flatbed truck. He walked slow as a hot river down the narrow hall of your house. You never dared to race past him, to say, “Please move,” in the language you learned effortlessly, as you learned to run, the language forbidden at home, though your mother said you learned it to fight with the neighbors.

Based on these lines what can the reader infer about the person referred to as you in “A Voice”?

• She hates her father.

• She is worried about her father.

• She wishes she had a different father.

• She feels serious and respectful around her father.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

What does the simile in line 23 of “A Voice” help the reader understand?

The family story says your voice is the voice of an aunt in Mexico, spunky as a peacock.

• The mother and the aunt are gutsy.

• The mother and the aunt are lonely.

• The mother and the aunt are angry with one another.

• The mother and the aunt like peacocks.

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4

What does the poet’s use of figurative language in lines 30-33 of “A Voice" help the reader understand about the speaker’s mother?

Their eyes were pinpricks, and you faked

hoarseness. You, who are never at a loss

for words, felt your breath stick in your throat

like an ice-cube. “I can’t,” you whispered.

• she's excited

• she's nervous

• she's restless

• she's angry

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4

What is the most likely purpose of the personification in line 3 of “Words Like Freedom”?

On my heartstrings freedom sings

• To explain why it is important to sing on key.

• To emphasize the speaker’s goals for 2022.

• To express the speaker’s feelings.

• To describe the speaker’s childhood. 

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RI.6.6

CCSS.RL.6.4

What tone can be inferred in lines 5-8 of “Words Like Freedom”?

There are words like Liberty

That almost make me cry.

If you had known what I know

You would know why.

• scary

• annoyed

• excited

• sorrowful

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4

With which of the following would the speaker in "Words Like Freedom" likely agree?

• People like to study.

• We don't need to fight for liberty.

• The struggle for equality is worth the price.

• Liberty is no longer important.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.W.6.9A

Which emotion is expressed in both poems?

• fear

• pride

• anger

• joy

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.9

CCSS.W.6.9B

On my heartstrings, freedom sings

This is an example of...

• personification

• verb

• simile

• rhyme

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

Who is the author of "Words Like Freedom?"

• Shel Silverstein

• Lois Lowry

• Bill Wallace

• Langston Hughes

"A Voice " and "Words Like Freedom" are...

• poems

• short stories

• novels

• books