To Build a Fire

Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or
MORE) in your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Monday 2/2:

What would you do

in order to survive if
you were in danger?
 To Build a Fire
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or
MORE) in your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Tuesday 2/3:

Several times in the story, the

man recalls the old-timer from
Sulfur Creek and how he had
been very serious in laying down
the law that no man must travel
alone in the Klondike after fifty
below. Why do you think
the man did not follow
the old-timer’s advice?
 To Build a Fire
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or
MORE) in your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Wednesday 2/4:
The main character in this story
seems to take a pretty easygoing
attitude towards his dangerous
situation. It's not until things are
really, really bad that he starts to
panic. Would he have been
better off if he'd panicked
earlier or was he right to
remain calm for so long?
Why?
 To Build a Fire
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or
MORE) in your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Thursday 2/5:

How can we read "To

Build a Fire" as a
cautionary tale? What
lesson can we take away
from it that's relevant
beyond the story's Yukon
setting?
 To Build a Fire
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or
MORE) in your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Friday 2/6:

Even today, stories of

wilderness survival are
extremely popular. Why
do you think this is? What
is it about wilderness
survival that keeps
audiences coming back
for more?
 POETRY
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Monday 2/9
Sketch
Carl Sandburg
The shadows of the ships
Rock on the crest
In the low blue lustre
Of the tardy and the soft inrolling tide.
A long brown bar at the dip of the sky
Puts an arm of sand in the span of salt.
The lucid and endless wrinkles
Draw in, lapse and withdraw.
Wavelets crumble and white spent bubbles
Wash on the floor of the beach.
Rocking on the crest
In the low blue lustre
Are the shadows of the ships.

What is the MOOD of this poem? How

does it make you feel?
 POETRY
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Tuesday 2/10
Sketch
Carl Sandburg
The shadows of the ships
Rock on the crest
In the low blue lustre
Of the tardy and the soft inrolling tide.
A long brown bar at the dip of the sky
Puts an arm of sand in the span of salt.
The lucid and endless wrinkles
Draw in, lapse and withdraw.
Wavelets crumble and white spent bubbles
Wash on the floor of the beach.
Rocking on the crest
In the low blue lustre
Are the shadows of the ships.

Define personification. Identify an

example of personification in this poem
and explain what is being personified.
 POETRY
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Wednesday 2/11
I Sing the Battle
By Harry Kemp
I SING the song of the great clean guns that belch forth death
at will.
"Ah, but the wailing mothers, the lifeless forms and still!"

I sing the song of the billowing flags, the bugles that cry before.
"Ah, but the skeletons flapping rags, the lips that speak no
more!"

I sing the clash of bayonets, of sabres that flash and cleave.

"And wilt thou sing the maimed ones, too, that go with pinned
up sleeve?"

I sing acclaimed generals that bring the victory home.

"Ah, but the broken bodies that drip like honey-comb!"

I sing of hosts triumphant, long ranks of marching men.

"And wilt thou sing the shadowy hosts that never march
again?"

1. Why is every other line contained in quotation

marks?
2. What is the effect of this technique?
3. What is the mood of this poem?
4. How does it make you feel and why does it
make you feel this way?
 POETRY
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Thursday 2/12
I Sing the Battle
By Harry Kemp
I SING the song of the great clean guns that belch forth death
at will.
"Ah, but the wailing mothers, the lifeless forms and still!"

I sing the song of the billowing flags, the bugles that cry before.
"Ah, but the skeletons flapping rags, the lips that speak no
more!"

I sing the clash of bayonets, of sabres that flash and cleave.

"And wilt thou sing the maimed ones, too, that go with pinned
up sleeve?"

I sing acclaimed generals that bring the victory home.

"Ah, but the broken bodies that drip like honey-comb!"

I sing of hosts triumphant, long ranks of marching men. "And

wilt thou sing the shadowy hosts that never march again?"

What is the thematic message of this poem? In

other words, what lesson is the author attempting
to express with this poem? Explain your answer.
 POETRY
Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Friday 2/13
The Grave
By Robert Blair
Dull Grave!—thou spoil'st the dance of youthful blood,
Strik'st out the dimple from the cheek of mirth,
And every smirking feature from the face;
Branding our laughter with
the name of madness.
Where are the jesters now? the men of health
Complexionally pleasant? Where the droll,
Whose every look and gesture was a joke
To clapping theatres and shouting crowds,
And made even thick-lipp'd musing Melancholy
To gather up her face into a smile
Before she was aware? Ah! sullen now,
And dumb as the green turf that covers them.

Identify 2 examples of personification. Explain what

is being personified and how it is being personified.

What is the tone of this poem? How does the

speaker feel about the subject(s) of the poem? Use
evidence to explain.

POETRY
 Bell Question
Monday 2/16

NO SCHOOL
 POETRY
Bell Question
Tuesday 2/17

NO SCHOOL

POETRY
 Bell Question
Write a good solid PARAGRAPH (or MORE) in
your LINED NOTEBOOK!

Wednesday 2/18
The Grave
By Robert Blair
Dull Grave!—thou spoil'st the dance of youthful
blood,
Strik'st out the dimple from the cheek of mirth,
And every smirking feature from the face;
Branding our laughter with
the name of madness.
Where are the jesters now? the men of health
Complexionally pleasant? Where the droll,
Whose every look and gesture was a joke
To clapping theatres and shouting crowds,
And made even thick-lipp'd musing Melancholy
To gather up her face into a smile
Before she was aware? Ah! sullen now,
And dumb as the green turf that covers them.

Identify 1 example of a simile. Identify 1 example of

imagery.

What is the thematic message of this poem? In other

words, what lesson is the author attempting to
express with this poem?

POETRY
 Bell Question
Thursday 2/19
The Dawn’s Awake
By Otto Leland Bohanan

The Dawn's awake!

A flash of smoldering flame and fire
Ignites the East. Then, higher, higher,
O'er all the sky so gray, forlorn°,
The torch of gold is borne.
The Dawn's awake!
The dawn of a thousand dreams and thrills.
And music singing in the hills
A paean° of eternal spring
Voices the new awakening.
The Dawn's awake!
Whispers of pent-up harmonies,
With the mingled fragrance of the trees;
Faint snatches of half-forgotten song--
Fathers! torn and numb,--
The boon of light we craved, awaited long,
Has come, has come!
° Forlorn – pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely
° Paean – a song of praise or triumph

1. Find an example of PERSONIFICATION

2. Find an example of HYPERBOLE
3. Find 3 examples of IMAGERY that access 3 DIFFERENT
SENSES

POETRY
Bell Question
Friday 2/20
The Dawn’s Awake
By Otto Leland Bohanan
The Dawn's awake!
A flash of smoldering flame and fire
Ignites the East. Then, higher, higher,
O'er all the sky so gray, forlorn°,
The torch of gold is borne.

The Dawn's awake!

The dawn of a thousand dreams and thrills.
And music singing in the hills
A paean° of eternal spring
Voices the new awakening.

The Dawn's awake!

Whispers of pent-up harmonies,
With the mingled fragrance of the trees;
Faint snatches of half-forgotten song--
Fathers! torn and numb,--
The boon of light we craved, awaited long,
Has come, has come!
° Forlorn – pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely
° Paean – a song of praise or triumph

This poem was written by an African American poet during the

Harlem Renaissance°. Knowing this, how might one interpret the
“Dawn” beyond its literal meaning? What might the “Dawn”
represent?

The Harlem Renaissance was a period of time in the early 20th century,
particularly the 1920s, when African American thought and culture was
redefined. African heritage and roots were embraced by the movement’s young
writers, artists and musicians, who found in Harlem a place to express
themselves. The movement altered not only African American culture, but
American culture as a whole.

POETRY
Bell Question
Monday 2/23
Read the following examples of figurative language.
Identify the poetic device being used.

1. Their thoughts were like golden birds.

2. Fear lurks, watching me, waiting for the
moment to pounce.
3. The sound of your breath is a music of
which I will not soon tire.
4. After she left, the sun never shined again.
5. Their trumpets crying, their white plumes
flying, and their sabers flashing in the sun.

POETRY
Bell Question
Tuesday 2/24
“He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.”
1. Copy this excerpt into your journal.
2. Annotate by underlining, circling,
highlighting at least 4 pieces of
figurative language (use variety) AND
labeling it with its proper term.

POETRY
Bell Question
Wednesday 2/25
 Read the following examples of figurative language.
Identify the poetic device being used.

1. All night long with rush and lull / The rain

kept drumming on the roof
2. The child with / her infinite energy / would
run / her parents to / the ground
3. There’s a patch of old snow in a corner
4. Drip-hiss-drip-hiss- fall the raindrops
5. Falstaff sweats to death, as he walks
along; / Were’t not for laughing, I should pity
him.
6.Gracefully she sat down sideways, / With
a simper smile

POETRY Bell Question

Thursday 2/26
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening By Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Which of the following THEME statements best fits this poem?
a) Appreciate the little things
b) The woods are mysterious and peaceful
c) Take the time to appreciate the beauty of nature
d) Duty and responsibility comes before play
Write a constructed response that supports and explores the
theme you feel is best for the poem “Stopping by the Woods on a
Snowy Evening.” Make sure you use direct evidence from the
poem to support your analysis of the theme.

Inferences
Bell Question
Friday 2/27
Read this paragraph from a memoir and then answer the
questions that follow.

I quickly packed my suitcase. I tossed in a change of

clothes, a toothbrush, and a hairbrush. Glancing at
my watch, I zipped the suitcase and walked to the
front door. After I shut the window blinds, I pulled a
heavy coat from the closet.

1. Based on information in the passage, what is a

reasonable inference to make about the narrator’s
plans?

2. Write down words in the passage that helped you

make this inference.

3. Which inference is supported by specific information

in the passage?
a. The narrator has new luggage.
b. The narrator is going to take a short trip.
c. The narrator likes being outdoors in winter.
d. The narrator is going to the airport.