From After the Hurricane

Why does the poet use the extended metaphor of the disaster movie at the beginning of the excerpt from the poem “After the Hurricane”?

• To compare the setting of the poem to something readers can understand

• To introduce readers to the kinds of people who live near Lake George

• To help readers visualize what a movie set of New Orleans looks like

• To give readers some additional information about the speaker and her friends

In lines 5–7, the speaker in the poem says if none of it were real to —

• express a dislike for disaster movies

• express that the hurricane never happened, and that it is as fictional as a disaster movie

• suggest that the story of the hurricane would never make a good disaster movie

• express that the disaster is very real, but she wishes it was fictional, like a disaster movie

The poet chose an irregular and unpredictable rhyme scheme for the excerpt from “After the Hurricane” most likely to —

• sound alarming like the helicopters that flew over the city

• reflect the music that is a part of the culture in New Orleans

• build a somber mood like the one people felt after the hurricane

• mirror the chaos in New Orleans after the hurricane

In lines 136–146, the speaker’s questions and answers show that —

• despite her doubts, she is determined to leave the shelter because it is the right thing to do

• she is writing a journal entry to remember her experience

• she dislikes the experiences she has had in the school band

• she will stay inside the shelter because it is the right thing to do

How does the structure of lines 137 through 148 add to the excerpt from the poem “After the Hurricane”?

• The repetition of short questions and answers gives the poem a fast rhythm.

• The questions and answers make the narrator sound like she’s singing.

• The regular rhyming pattern helps readers guess what will come next.

• The sudden and irregular line breaks set the mood for readers.

Which line from the excerpt from the poem "After the Hurricane" contain imagery that helps the reader visualize the bleak setting of post-Katrina New Orleans?

• Camera crews bark, "Bike Mike! Get this, over here!"

• The world is here but no one's coming.

• We walk past the Guard.

Which line from the excerpt from the poem "After the Hurricane" contain imagery that helps the reader visualize the bleak setting of post-Katrina New Orleans?

• How can I leave TK and Grandmama?

• I lick the salt off my bare arms,

• Still wearing what we had on when it hit.

What is a comparison of two or more things WITHOUT using like or as?

• figurative language

• simile

• metaphor

• free verse

What uses the words like or as to make a comparison between two essentially unlike things?

• simile

• metaphor

• extended metaphor

• personification

What communicates meanings beyond the literal meanings of words?

• free verse

• metaphor

• figurative language

• simile