Structure Ideas Word Choice

Which element of "The Turtle” helps the reader determine that it is a free verse poem?

• the lack of regular rhyme and meter

• the poet’s use of words and phrases

• the poet’s use of words and phrases

• the lack of repeated vowel sounds

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

Read the excerpt from stanza 1 of "The Turtle.”

breaks from the blue-black

skin of the water, dragging her shell

with its mossy scutes

across the shallows and through the rushes

The repeated "sh” sound adds to the stanza’s

• tone

• meter

• rhyme

• rhythm

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

The emotional atmosphere that a poem creates is known as

• the theme

• the tone

• the mood

• the meter

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

Read the lines from "The Turtle.”

of her patience, her fortitude,

her determination to complete

what she was born to do –

and then you realize a greater thing –

she doesn’t consider

what she was born to do.

What does the poet’s word choice in these lines say about her attitude toward the turtle?

• She questions the turtle’s intelligence.

• She likes the turtle’s slow movements.

• She thinks the turtle’s task is an easy one.

• She admires the turtle’s natural drive.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.6.4

Read the lines from "The Turtle.”

Crawling up the high hill,

luminous under the sand that has packed against her skin,

she doesn’t dream

she knows

Based on the poet’s use of the word "luminous,” what is her tone toward the turtle?

• The turtle has an strange appearance.

• The turtle should be admired for her movements.

• The turtle is too bright to look at.

• The turtle is a beautiful part of nature.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

Which words from "The Turtle” create the idea that the turtle moves in an awkward and uneven way?

• dragging, ungainly, hunkered

• mossy, shallows, darkness

• patience, fortitude, determination

• crawling, luminous, unbreakable

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

The idea in the "The Turtle” that all living things are tied together in a meaningful way is part of the poem’s

• theme

• mood

• tone

• atmosphere

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.5

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.10