The message of a poem, line by line

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The High Board (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] Eleven rungs. I count them as I climb,
   [2] each one wet and cold beneath my feet.
   [3] The line behind me shuffles, waits its turn.
   [4] Nobody calls out “Hurry.” That is worse.

   Stanza 2
   [5] The board runs out ahead, a long gray tongue.
   [6] My knees have started shaking on their own.
   [7] I tell them, “Stop,” and they ignore me, so
   [8] I walk the way a person walks on ice.

   Stanza 3
   [9] At the end, the pool looks small and far,
   [10] a blue square no bigger than a stamp.
   [11] I think of going back, but then I see
   [12] the rungs again, the line, the long way down.

   Stanza 4
   [13] The fear does not leave. It comes along,
   [14] still shaking, in the air beside me, and
   [15] I jump with it. The water slaps my palms.
   [16] Behind me, someone claps. My knees still shake.
   Annotations: stanza 1 = the climb; stanza 2 = the body; stanza 3 = the edge; stanza 4 = the jump.

2. 1.

   Ari marks the shaking knees, the fear that stays and the jump. Which theme fits the whole poem?

   • Courage is waiting for the fear to leave, so a person steps forward when the shaking has stopped.
   • Courage is acting while the fear is still there, because the fear can come along instead of leaving first.
   • Fear can make the body shake and the way back feel long, as the speaker's knees and the long climb show.
   • A person who jumps from a high board once will soon find that heights stop being frightening for good.
3. 2.

   Bo reads the poem. All four lines are true. Which line proves this most strongly: “The speaker jumps even though the fear is still there”?

   • [15] I jump with it. The water slaps my palms.
   • [3] The line behind me shuffles, waits its turn.
   • [13] The fear does not leave. It comes along,
   • [8] I walk the way a person walks on ice.
4. 3.

   Esme looks for the turn, the place where the speaker's thinking changes direction. Which line is the turn?

   • [11] I think of going back, but then I see
   • [6] My knees have started shaking on their own.
   • [16] Behind me, someone claps. My knees still shake.
   • [9] At the end, the pool looks small and far,
5. 4.

   Jun marks the careful walk, the jump and the knees that still shake. Which theme fits the whole poem?

   • A swimmer climbs a ladder, walks out on a board, looks at a pool far below and then jumps into the water.
   • Being brave does not mean the fear is gone; it means the fear does not decide what a person does.
   • Fear is the body's warning, so a climber whose knees shake is wise to turn around and go back.
   • A silent line behind a climber can feel worse than being rushed, especially on a cold, wet ladder.
6. 5.

   Kira reads the poem. All four lines are true. Which line proves this most strongly: “Going back down looks as hard as going forward”?

   • [14] still shaking, in the air beside me, and
   • [10] a blue square no bigger than a stamp.
   • [11] I think of going back, but then I see
   • [12] the rungs again, the line, the long way down.

7. New Seat (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The cafeteria hums like a hive.
   [2] I carry my tray in both hands, like a map
   [3] of somewhere I can't read, past the long tables
   [4] where every seat already has a name.

   Stanza 2
   [5] I pick the empty end of the last bench,
   [6] unwrap my sandwich slowly, take my time,
   [7] and watch the doors as if someone were late
   [8] to meet me. No one is. The clock goes on.

   Stanza 3
   [9] Then Luz slides down the bench without a word
   [10] and sets a tray beside mine. Not a hello,
   [11] just the scrape of plastic and an apple
   [12] rolling to a stop against my wrist.

   Stanza 4
   [13] Nobody makes a speech. Nobody has to.
   [14] The bench is still the bench, the noise the noise,
   [15] but the end of it holds two of us now,
   [16] and what was just an edge is starting to be a place.
   Annotations: stanza 1 = the crowd; stanza 2 = the wait; stanza 3 = the gesture; stanza 4 = the change.

8. 6.

   Milo marks the crowded room, the quiet gesture and the ending. Which theme fits the whole poem?

   • One friendly tray is enough to make a new school feel like home from the first lunch on.
   • The poem describes a new student carrying a tray across a cafeteria and sitting at the end of a bench.
   • A small, quiet kindness can turn a lonely spot in a crowded room into a place where a person belongs.
   • A crowded room can make a new person feel that the seats already belong to someone else.
9. 7.

   Noah reads the poem. All four lines are true. Which line proves this most strongly: “The speaker hopes someone will come, but no one does at first”?

   • [7] and watch the doors as if someone were late
   • [8] to meet me. No one is. The clock goes on.
   • [1] The cafeteria hums like a hive.
   • [6] unwrap my sandwich slowly, take my time,
10. 8.

    Pia looks for the turn, the place where the lonely wait begins to change. Which line is the turn?

    • [12] rolling to a stop against my wrist.
    • [5] I pick the empty end of the last bench,
    • [8] to meet me. No one is. The clock goes on.
    • [9] Then Luz slides down the bench without a word
11. 9.

    Ren marks the long wait, the silent gesture and the quiet after it. Which theme fits the whole poem?

    • Belonging can begin with a gesture so small that no words are needed to make it count.
    • A person who is welcomed once should expect the whole school to make room soon after.
    • A new person should wait to be welcomed in words, because a silent gesture does not make a place.
    • Waiting alone in a crowded room can make time feel slow, as the clock in line 8 shows.
12. 10.

    Tala compares stanza 1 with stanza 4. What changes for the speaker from the first stanza to the last?

    • The speaker moves from carrying a tray past seats that already have names, to sharing the end of a bench.
    • The speaker sits at the end of a bench in stanza 2 and is still sitting at the end of it in stanza 4.
    • The speaker moves from sharing the end of a bench, to carrying a tray past seats that already have names.
    • The bench and the noise change from loud and crowded to calm and quiet around the speaker.