1. Bellringer—Friday
Determine two themes of the poem – truths about human behavior or motivation.
Think about what is typical behavior of human beings, and why they do what they do.
Remember that theme should be expressed in a complete declarative sentence.
Once you finish, turn in ALL of your bell work for this week!

2. What type of poem is this?
She is holding my hand but I can’t remember it, whether it was something automatic like smiling for the camera 5 or whether our mother had to say take her hand, come on. Mostly we remember who hit who first, who was pushed off the sled, 10 who tattled to father, all that stale history still squashed between us 30 years later. It becomes easier every year to think it is too late, 15 we are too different now, the letter at Christmas as much as there will ever be. But still I return to the old albums, touch the glassy photographs 20 with their secrets sealed in. My fingertips find the two small faces I want to forgive, find the sister holding my hand.
Read the poem “Sister.”
What type of poem is this?
Explain in prose (a paragraph) exactly what is happening in the poem.

3. Look at the sound devices in the poem: alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia. Highlight or underline and label all the sound devices.
Alliteration—the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Assonance—in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible (e.g., penitence, reticence ).
Consonance—the recurrence of similar consonant sounts in close proximity
Onomatopoeia—the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ).
She is holding my hand but I can’t remember it, whether it was something automatic like smiling for the camera 5 or whether our mother had to say take her hand, come on. Mostly we remember who hit who first, who was pushed off the sled, 10 who tattled to father, all that stale history still squashed between us 30 years later. It becomes easier every year to think it is too late, 15 we are too different now, the letter at Christmas as much as there will ever be. But still I return to the old albums, touch the glassy photographs 20 with their secrets sealed in. My fingertips find the two small faces I want to forgive, find the sister holding my hand.

4. Identify all the figures of speech in the poem.
For lines that have a literal meaning, label with the word “literal.”
In lines that have a figurative meaning, label “metaphor” or “simile.”
Explain the point of each of the examples of figurative language; what is the speaker trying to show by using them?
She is holding my hand but I can’t remember it, whether it was something automatic like smiling for the camera 5 or whether our mother had to say take her hand, come on. Mostly we remember who hit who first, who was pushed off the sled, 10 who tattled to father, all that stale history still squashed between us 30 years later. It becomes easier every year to think it is too late, 15 we are too different now, the letter at Christmas as much as there will ever be. But still I return to the old albums, touch the glassy photographs 20 with their secrets sealed in. My fingertips find the two small faces I want to forgive, find the sister holding my hand.

5. She is holding my hand but I can’t remember it, whether it was something automatic like smiling for the camera 5 or whether our mother had to say take her hand, come on. Mostly we remember who hit who first, who was pushed off the sled, 10 who tattled to father, all that stale history still squashed between us 30 years later. It becomes easier every year to think it is too late, 15 we are too different now, the letter at Christmas as much as there will ever be. But still I return to the old albums, touch the glassy photographs 20 with their secrets sealed in. My fingertips find the two small faces I want to forgive, find the sister holding my hand.
Annotate the poem for patterns in diction (specific word choice) and connotation, using highlighters. Make notes in the margins; draw lines and arrows to connect words that might form a pattern.
Find and note all the patterns of contrast in the poem: any two opposite words or ideas. Make notes in the margins to briefly explain.

6. She is holding my hand but I can’t remember it, whether it was something automatic like smiling for the camera 5 or whether our mother had to say take her hand, come on. Mostly we remember who hit who first, who was pushed off the sled, 10 who tattled to father, all that stale history still squashed between us 30 years later. It becomes easier every year to think it is too late, 15 we are too different now, the letter at Christmas as much as there will ever be. But still I return to the old albums, touch the glassy photographs 20 with their secrets sealed in. My fingertips find the two small faces I want to forgive, find the sister holding my hand.
Determine two themes of the poem – truths about human behavior or motivation.
Think about what is typical behavior of human beings, and why they do what they do.
Remember that theme should be expressed in a complete declarative sentence.

7. Narrative Writing Practice

8. Let’s Analyze some writing!
I am going to give you a narrative sample.
Your job is an easy one—score the narrative based on the TNReady rubric.
Give each category a score of 1-4 based on the rubric.
We will discuss in minutes!

9. Extra Credit—Write a Narrative!
I want you to feel free to be creative, so I am not giving you a prompt for the story! Feel free to look some up online if you have a hard time getting started. 
Guidelines for the 25 points:
Must be 3 pages: 6 points
Typed and ed to : 4 points
Includes dialogue between characters (correctly punctuated): 5 points
Is creative and detailed, containing a beginning, middle and end: 5 points
Sensory Language: 5 Points
Do NOT use 1st person point of view or you lose 10 points!
You do not receive 25 points just for doing this- you receive 25 points for doing a GOOD JOB at this, so DO YOUR BEST!!
It’s due by the end of the day on MONDAY, APRIL 16th!