The message of a poem, line by line

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Inherited Beds (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The people before us left a garden here,
   [2] or what was left: tall weeds, a rusted gate.
   [3] In March I took a shovel to the beds
   [4] and cleared them in an afternoon. Done. Clean.

   Stanza 2
   [5] The neighbor leaned across the fence and watched.
   [6] “Those green spikes were tulips,” she said, “coming up.”
   [7] I looked down at the heap of pulled-out green
   [8] and found small bulbs among the tangled roots.

   Stanza 3
   [9] I pushed the bulbs back in. I could not tell
   [10] which ones would live, or if I'd done it right.
   [11] The beds sat bare for weeks. I watched the dirt.
   [12] I wanted to be sure, and nothing came.

   Stanza 4
   [13] In May, six crooked tulips. Only six.
   [14] The rest were gone for good, and I will not
   [15] know how many I took out that day.
   [16] I water these. Before I pull a thing, I wait.
   Annotations: stanza 1 = the quick clearing; stanza 2 = the warning; stanza 3 = the repair; stanza 4 = the result.

2. 1.

   Ren writes a summary of the whole poem. Which sentence is an objective summary, with the events in order and no opinions?

   • The speaker foolishly clears the old beds in March, then luckily saves a few bulbs and finally learns to wait.
   • The speaker clears the old beds in March, hears from a neighbor that the green spikes were tulips, and pushes the bulbs back in.
   • The speaker clears old beds in March, hears that tulips were coming up, replants the bulbs, and sees six bloom in May.
   • The poem teaches that acting fast can cost something that cannot be replaced, so a careful person waits before pulling anything up.
3. 2.

   Tala looks for proof of the poem's two sides. Which two lines show the speaker trying to repair the damage and a loss that stayed?

   • [14] The rest were gone for good, and I will not + [15] know how many I took out that day.
   • [9] I pushed the bulbs back in. I could not tell + [2] or what was left: tall weeds, a rusted gate.
   • [3] In March I took a shovel to the beds + [4] and cleared them in an afternoon. Done. Clean.
   • [9] I pushed the bulbs back in. I could not tell + [14] The rest were gone for good, and I will not
4. 3.

   Zee marks the clearing in stanza 1 and the new habit in stanza 4. Which message keeps both the lesson and the loss?

   • Waiting through a bare spring is pointless, since the bulbs that were replanted did not come up.
   • The poem is about a gardener, a neighbor and a set of tulip bulbs in a spring that starts bare.
   • Hurrying to clear what seems useless can destroy unseen value, so a careful person learns to wait.
   • Pulling out plants without asking a neighbor first will destroy a garden for good, however it is replanted.
5. 4.

   Ari picks the summary of stanzas 3 and 4. Which sentence is objective and covers both stanzas?

   • The speaker pushes the bulbs back in and then waits through weeks of bare dirt with nothing coming up.
   • The speaker pushes the bulbs back in, waits through bare weeks, and finds six tulips in May; the rest are lost.
   • The speaker patiently saves the bulbs, but the sad result shows that the replanting was a poor effort in the end.
   • These stanzas show that careful waiting can repair some mistakes but cannot undo the harm that was done to the garden.

6. Enough (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The card is stained and soft along the folds.
   [2] The handwriting leans left. It lists, in my
   [3] neighbor's language: flour, salt, some water, then
   [4] “enough.” Enough of what? The card won't say.

   Stanza 2
   [5] I wrote it out in English, line by line.
   [6] I measured, stirred, and baked a heavy loaf
   [7] that sat like a stone in the middle of the plate.
   [8] The words were right. The bread was not the same.

   Stanza 3
   [9] She laughed, kindly, at the loaf, then rolled her sleeves.
   [10] She did not measure. She pressed the dough, tilted
   [11] her head, and seemed to listen to its give.
   [12] “Like this,” she said. “Now you.” My hands were slow.

   Stanza 4
   [13] The second loaf was lopsided but light.
   [14] I keep the card. It tells me where to start.
   [15] The rest of it is somewhere in the kneading,
   [16] and someone has to sit beside you there.
   Annotations: stanza 1 = the card; stanza 2 = the first loaf; stanza 3 = the lesson; stanza 4 = the second loaf.

7. 5.

   Esme marks the card, the heavy loaf and the lopsided loaf. Which theme keeps both what words can do and what they cannot?

   • Words can keep a tradition and give a start, but the rest has to be learned by doing it with someone.
   • Following a written recipe line by line is how a person learns to bake a good loaf.
   • The poem describes a neighbor's recipe card, a failed loaf and a second loaf that turned out lighter.
   • Written instructions are useless for cooking, so cooks should learn from neighbors instead.
8. 6.

   Jun summarizes the whole poem. Which sentence is objective and keeps the events in order?

   • The poem shows that written steps give just a start, and that a skill is learned by doing it with someone.
   • The speaker carelessly bakes a stone-like loaf, then gratefully learns from a neighbor who is clearly the better baker.
   • The speaker writes out a neighbor's recipe in English, bakes a heavy loaf, and watches the neighbor knead the dough by hand at the table.
   • The speaker writes out a neighbor's recipe in English, bakes a heavy loaf, watches the neighbor knead, then bakes a lighter loaf.
9. 7.

   Kira looks for proof that written steps fell short. Which two lines show the words being right and the neighbor working without measuring?

   • [8] The words were right. The bread was not the same. + [10] She did not measure. She pressed the dough, tilted
   • [6] I measured, stirred, and baked a heavy loaf + [8] The words were right. The bread was not the same.
   • [2] The handwriting leans left. It lists, in my + [3] neighbor's language: flour, salt, some water, then
   • [8] The words were right. The bread was not the same. + [13] The second loaf was lopsided but light.
10. 8.

    Luz marks stanzas 2, 3 and 4. Which message shows what the card gives and what it leaves out?

    • A written recipe can start a skill, but the rest is passed on hand to hand, beside someone.
    • Kneading by hand is what makes bread light, no matter what the recipe says or how it is written.
    • A recipe card has no value to a person who cannot already bake without it, however old the card is.
    • The poem is about the bread that two neighbors bake from a stained recipe card, one loaf after another.
11. 9.

    Milo picks the summary of stanzas 3 and 4. Which sentence is objective and covers both stanzas?

    • The neighbor laughs, shows how to press the dough by feel, and the second loaf comes out light but lopsided.
    • These stanzas show that a skill is learned by working beside someone, not by copying down steps from a card.
    • The neighbor kindly takes pity on the speaker, and the speaker's clumsy hands still make a pretty loaf in the end.
    • The neighbor laughs, rolls up both sleeves, and shows the speaker how to press and tilt the dough.
12. 10.

    Noah looks for proof that the neighbor's teaching needs the speaker's hands too. Which two lines show the neighbor's invitation and the speaker's own try?

    • [12] “Like this,” she said. “Now you.” My hands were slow. + [13] The second loaf was lopsided but light.
    • [9] She laughed, kindly, at the loaf, then rolled her sleeves. + [11] her head, and seemed to listen to its give.
    • [12] “Like this,” she said. “Now you.” My hands were slow. + [1] The card is stained and soft along the folds.
    • [5] I wrote it out in English, line by line. + [6] I measured, stirred, and baked a heavy loaf