On Turning Ten

Which of the following best summarizes a theme of the poem? (Supporting standard: RL.1.2)

• Imagination is constrained by age.

• Nature reflects the human cycle of life.

• Growing old is a universal fear, even though it feels unique to the individual.

• Growing up means letting go of the carefree innocence of childhood.

Which of the following phrases best supports the answer to Question One?

• “But now I am mostly at the window / watching the late afternoon light.” ( Lines 17-18)

• “This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, / ... It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, / time to turn the first big number.” ( Lines 24-27)

• “The whole idea of it makes me feel / like I'm coming down with something.” ( Lines 1-2)

• “Back then it never fell so solemnly / against the side of my tree house, / and my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it.” ( Lines 19-23)

Read lines 5-7 from the text.

“a kind of measles of the spirit, / a mumps of the psyche, / a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.”

• The speaker feels physically nauseated by age and older people.

• The speaker fears aging because he associates it with sickness and dying.

• The speaker compares his feelings about growing up to sickness, suggesting that he does not have a positive outlook on it.

• The speaker likens aging to sickness, believing it to be a physically arduous process.

How does the author reveal the speaker’s view of growing up? (RL.2.6) Select TWO responses from below.

• the author makes contradictory statements to elaborate on his views of getting older

• the author includes research and statistical evidence to support the speaker's argument of growing old

• the author shares anecdotes associated with personal events dealing with fear from the speaker’s past

• the author uses a variety of figurative language devices to compare and contrast the speaker’s perspective to aging

• the author uses words and phrases with negative connotations to display how the speaker dreads getting older

In the poem "On Turning Ten", what does the speaker realize when he is looking out the window?

• Life is not as exciting as it used to be.

• All of his friends have left him.

• His skin is not shining anymore.

• The bike leaning against the house is broken.

In the poem "On Turning Ten", the speaker of the poem doesn't want to turn ten because...

• life gets to easy when you are older.

• the best age you can be is two years old.

• he doesn't want to get wrinkles.

• he'll miss certain parts of his life when he was younger.

Which of the following best summarizes a theme of "On Turning Ten"?

• Imagination is constrained by age.

• Growing old is a universal fear, even though it feels unique to the individual.

• Growing up means letting go of the carefree innocence of childhood.

• Nature reflects the human cycle of life.

Which of the following best summarizes a theme of "On Turning Ten"?

• Imagination is constrained by age.

• Growing old is a universal fear, even though it feels unique to the individual.

• Growing up means letting go of the carefree innocence of childhood.

• Nature reflects the human cycle of life.

The speaker of the poem doesn't want to turn ten because...

• life gets to easy when you are older.

• the best age you can be is two years old.

• he doesn't want to get wrinkles.

• he'll miss certain parts of his life when he was younger.

Which of the following phrases best supports the answer to Part A?

• “The whole idea of it makes me feel / like I'm coming down with something.” (Lines 1-2)

• “But now I am mostly at the window / watching the late afternoon light.” (Lines 17-18)

• “Back then it never fell so solemnly / against the side of my tree house, / and my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it.” (Lines 19-23)

• “This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, / ... It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, / time to turn the first big number.” (Lines 24-27)