T itle – Make a prediction. What do you think the title means before you read the poem?

1. Title – Make a prediction. What do you think the title means before you read the poem? • Paraphrase – Write the poem in your own words. What is the poem about? Rephrase sections in the poem that are difficult to understand on first reading. • Connotation – Look beyond the literal meaning of key words and images. • Attitude – What is the speaker’s attitude? What is the author’s attitude? How does the author feel about the speaker, about other characters, about the subject? • Shifts – Where do the shifts occur? Look at setting, voice, punctuation, change in rhyme. Why does the shift occur? What is the effect of the shift? Does it change the overall meaning? • Title – Look at the title again. Now that you’ve read the poem, do you think it still means the same thing? • Theme – Think of the literal and abstract ideas in the poem. Relate that to the overall theme.

2. Mother to Son By Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps. 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now— For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

3. When Frankenstein Was Just a Kid By Kenn Nesbitt When Frankenstein was just a kid, he ate his greens. It's true. He did! He ate his spinach, salads, peas, asparagus, and foods like these, and with each leaf and lima bean his skin became a bit more green. On chives and chard he loved to chew, and Brussels sprouts and peppers too, until he ate that fateful bean that turned his skin completely green. He turned all green, and stayed that way, and now he frightens folks away. Poor Frankenstein, his tale is sad, but things need not have been so bad. It's fair to say, if only he had eaten much less celery, avoided cabbage, ate no kale, why, then, we'd have a different tale. So, mom and dad, I'm here to say please take these vegetables away or my fate could be just as grim. Yes, I could end up green like him. So, mom and dad, before we dine, please give a thought to Frankenstein.

4. Sonnet 130 By William Shakespeare My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;Coral is far more red than her lips' red;If snow be white, why then her [skin is] dun;If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat music hath a far more pleasing sound;I grant I never saw a goddess go;My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare   As any she belied with false compare.