Weekly Poem Your Name:__________________________

Mr. Burke/English Period:_____________

Overview Read the poem first to enjoy it. Read it straight on through, preferably aloud. Then read it again (and again), looking for any of the following literary devices or features:

q Language: tone, style, diction (word choice)

q Conventions: punctuation, grammar, poetic forms

q Devices: imagery, metaphor, symbols, repetition, and more.

q Design: structure, organization of content (e.g., stanzas, past-to-present)

q Themes: ideas that run throughout the poem

q Connections: how might this relate to the other works we are reading, conversations we are having in class lately?

q Purpose: is the poet trying to explain? Define? Persuade? What, why, and how do they do this?

You should write the explication of and response to the poem on the back. The front should show evidence of close reading—e.g., underlined words, meaningful annotations. Remember to consult The Reader's Handbook to review our discussions about how to read poems.

Scaffolding

by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,

Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,

Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done

Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be

Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall

Confident that we have built our wall.