1. “the earth is a living thing”

2. On a sheet of paper…
5 minute quick-write: Think of a time you felt connected to nature. You have 5 minutes to write a 5+ sentence paragraph describing the time (what was happening, what it looked like, sounded like, smelled like, felt like… etc.)

3. On the same sheet of paper…
Personification- Giving an inanimate or non-human object human qualities
“The wind whispered through the tall grass.”
Metaphor- a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that is literally used for one thing or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness; a phrase that implies comparison
“She is drowning in money.”
Simile- a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared using like or as
“She is as beautiful as a rose.”

4. On the SAME sheet of paper…
Use the base sentence “The rusty door squeaked loudly I forced it open.” and rewrite (and expand as necessary!) it using simile, metaphor, and personification.
Extra challenge (optional)- create your own base sentence to write your simile, metaphor, and personification!
Stuck? Look back at the example sentences from our definitions!
Simile
The rusty door squeaked like a frightened mouse when I forced it open.
Metaphor
The rusty door was a fortress, nearly impossible to force open.
Personification
The rusty door squeaked in protest when I forced it open, not wanting to reveal the secrets it held.

5. Next…
Take a few minutes to look over pages in your Independent Reader books. Look at the questions asked and think about what information you need to look for in your readings.
Then, turn to page 113 in your book. You should see a poem titled “the earth is a living thing”. Wait for me- we’ll read this together!

6. POETRY TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW…
Form
Stanza
The way a poem’s words and lines are laid out on the page.
Includes length of lines, placement of lines, and grouping of lines into stanzas.
Influences the meaning of the poem.
A group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem
May have he same number of lines or a different number of lines
Free Verse
Poetry that doesn’t follow traditional rules about lines, rhythm, or rhyme

7. Now…
Answer the questions beside the poem. You MAY write in your Independent Reader book.
In your book, bubble in the correct answer to numbers 1-3 on page 116.

8. ALSO on the SAME sheet of paper…
Copy your answers to numbers 1, 2, and 3 on page 116.
When finished, turn it in to your period’s tray.
Open up Red Queen to page 57.

9. Closure
What kind of figurative language is found on line 7 of “the earth is a living thing”?
In the last stanza of “the earth is a living thing,” figurative language helps emphasize that the relationship between the earth and the universe is one of…
In “the earth is a living thing,” what pattern do you see in the stanzas?