Alliteration, rhyme, repetition and poem forms

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Kite and the Line (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] I pulled the string and ran across the hill,
   [2] but not a breath of wind would lift the kite.
   [3] It dragged along the grass and then lay still,
   [4] a paper wing too tired to take its flight.

   Stanza 2
   [5] I tugged and waved and turned it to the sky,
   [6] then stamped my foot and shouted at the air.
   [7] The tail hung down. A bird went floating by,
   [8] as if the whole of morning didn't care.

   Stanza 3
   [9] But then I felt a tremor in the line,
   [10] a hum that shivered through each fingertip.
   [11] The wind had come, a quiet, steady sign,
   [12] and up the kite went, tugging at my grip.

   Stanza 4
   [13] The very string I thought would keep it low
   [14] was how the wind could pull it up to go.
   Annotations: circle repeated sounds and end rhymes; mark each stanza.

2. 1.

   Pia marks the turn in line 9, the word But. Which choice names the turn and what it changes?

   • Volta: the speaker moves from fighting a still kite to feeling it respond, which sets up the closing insight.
   • Volta: the poem switches from rhymed lines to unrhymed ones at line 9, which makes the ending feel loose and unfinished.
   • Volta: the speaker moves from feeling hopeful to feeling defeated, which sets up the kite falling.
   • Volta: line 9 begins with But and starts the third group of four lines in the poem.
3. 2.

   Ren reads the last two lines, which rhyme low with go. What does this couplet add?

   • Couplet: the closing pair repeats the opening idea, so the speaker ends exactly where the poem began.
   • Couplet: the closing pair gives the new idea, that the string that seemed to hold the kite back lets it rise.
   • Couplet: the closing pair gives the new idea, that the string was the reason the kite would not rise.
   • Couplet: the final two lines rhyme in a pair, and they come after twelve lines of the poem and its turn.
4. 3.

   Tala checks the poem against the sonnet pattern. Which choice names the form and the clues that show it?

   • Sonnet: fourteen lines in the pattern ABBA CDDC EFFE GG, with a turn at line 9 and a closing couplet.
   • Sonnet: fourteen lines in the pattern ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, with a turn at line 9 and a closing couplet.
   • Sonnet: fourteen lines in four groups, with a kite and the wind as the subject, ending in a rhyming pair.
   • Ballad: a story told in four-line stanzas where just lines 2 and 4 rhyme, with no turn at line 9.
5. 4.

   Bo looks for proof of a turn at line 9. Which two lines show the situation before and after the turn?

   • [9] But then I felt a tremor in the line, + [10] a hum that shivered through each fingertip,
   • [4] a paper wing too tired to take its flight. + [12] and up the kite went, tugging at my grip.
   • [4] a paper wing too tired to take its flight. + [13] The very string I thought would keep it low
   • [1] I pulled the string and ran across the hill, + [3] It dragged along the grass and then lay still,

6. Tide Going Out (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] At noon the water reaches the third step of the pier,
   [2] and we sit with our feet in it, shouting over the noise,
   [3] wave on wave on wave,
   [4] telling each other what we will do tomorrow,
   [5] and the day after that, and the one after.

   Stanza 2
   [6] By two, the sea has taken a step back.
   [7] The pier shows its green legs, its barnacles.
   [8] We talk about less,
   [9] and the gulls do the rest of the talking.

   Stanza 3
   [10] By four, a mile of wet sand shines,
   [11] printed with shells, a lost shoe,
   [12] the long thin tracks of something that crawled away.

   Stanza 4
   [13] We stop talking. We walk out
   [14] to where the water was.

   Stanza 5
   [15] Everything it left is still here.
   Annotations: circle repeated sounds and end rhymes; mark each stanza.

7. 5.

   Esme counts the lines in each stanza: 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. What does the shrinking shape add to the poem?

   • Shrinking stanzas: the poem narrows because each stanza drops a rhyme, so the form echoes a song ending.
   • Shrinking stanzas: each stanza has one fewer line than the one before it, down to a single line.
   • Shrinking stanzas: the poem narrows as the water floods in, so the form echoes the tide rising.
   • Shrinking stanzas: the poem narrows as the water pulls back, so the form echoes the talk and the tide fading.
8. 6.

   Jun looks at line 15, which stands alone as the last stanza. What does that single line add?

   • It is one line long and ends the poem after the stanza that has two lines in it.
   • It says the tide took everything away, so the lone line shows an empty beach at the end.
   • It stands alone to say what remains after the tide, so the shortest stanza carries the poem's main comfort.
   • It sums up the poem's rhyme, so the single line works like a final couplet at the end.
9. 7.

   Kira checks whether the poem rhymes or keeps a beat. Which choice names the form and the clues that show it?

   • Sonnet: fourteen lines with rhyming pairs at the end, so the poem keeps a strict pattern.
   • Free verse: the poem has five stanzas and fifteen lines, with the pier and the beach as its setting.
   • Free verse: the poem rhymes in its first two stanzas but the lines grow loose after that.
   • Free verse: the poem has no rhyme pattern or regular beat, and its stanza lengths change on purpose.
10. 8.

    Luz compares line 4 with line 8. Which choice says how the friends' talk changes and what the form adds?

    • The friends talk less as the stanzas get shorter, so the form lets the quiet grow around them.
    • The friends talk more as the stanzas shrink, so the form shows their plans growing bigger.
    • The friends repeat the same plan in each stanza, so the form works like a refrain.
    • The friends talk about plans in stanza 1 and about less in stanza 2, and the stanzas get shorter.
11. 9.

    Milo circles wave on wave on wave in line 3. Which choice names the device and what it adds?

    • Rhyme: the three waves end with the same sound, so the line feels finished and tidy.
    • Repetition: the phrase wave on wave on wave rolls like the surf, so the sound of the line matches the water.
    • Repetition: the phrase wave on wave on wave counts the days, so the line shows three days passing.
    • Repetition: the word wave is used three times in line 3, with on between each use.
12. 10.

    Noah looks for proof that the form follows the tide. Which two lines show the water high and then the water gone?

    • [3] wave on wave on wave, + [8] We talk about less,
    • [1] At noon the water reaches the third step of the pier, + [14] to where the water was.
    • [6] By two, the sea has taken a step back. + [7] The pier shows its green legs, its barnacles.
    • [1] At noon the water reaches the third step of the pier, + [4] telling each other what we will do tomorrow,