How sound and shape carry a poem’s message

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Rosin (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] I tighten every peg and test the string,
   [2] then rub the rosin cake until it grips.
   [3] One note is all I wanted it to bring:
   [4] it wobbles, wanders off, and then it slips.

   Stanza 2
   [5] My teacher says, "Again," and taps the beat,
   [6] as patient as the hand upon a clock;
   [7] I play the same eight bars, and then repeat,
   [8] and every pass, my fingers are not quick.

   Stanza 3
   [9] Then, somewhere in the seventh time, a change:
   [10] the bow stops fighting me and starts to glide
   [11] across the strings, so smoothly and so strange
   [12] that I forget to count, and step inside.

   Stanza 4
   [13] Nobody claps. The window's gone to gray.
   [14] I wipe the rosin dust from off my sleeve,
   [15] and still I hear that note go on its way,
   [16] a little farther than I dared believe.
   Annotations: mark each stressed syllable, and note where each line ends: punctuation or no punctuation.

2. 1.

   Ari scans the lines of stanza 1. Which choice names the meter and an effect it has?

   • Iambic pentameter: the uneven jumping of the beat shows how little control the speaker has.
   • Iambic pentameter: the quick bounce of the beat sounds like a performance full of joy.
   • Iambic pentameter: the steady da-DUM beat sounds like patient, repeated work.
   • Trochaic pentameter: the falling beat sounds like a bow dragging across the string.
3. 2.

   Bo compares line 13, “Nobody claps. The window's gone to gray.” with the lines around it. Which choice names the break and its effect?

   • A reversed first foot, NO-bod-y: the stress falls on the first word, so the silence feels gentle and expected.
   • A reversed first foot, NO-bod-y: the stress falls on the first word, so the silence hits at once.
   • No break: line 13 is regular iambic pentameter, with the first beat on the word claps.
   • A break in the rhyme: gray is the first end word in the poem that does not rhyme.
4. 3.

   Esme looks at the end words of lines 6 and 8, “clock” and “quick.” Which choice names the rhyme and its effect?

   • Slant rhyme: only the final k matches, so the near-miss echoes fingers that do not quite land.
   • Slant rhyme: only the final k sound matches, so the speaker's fingers seem fast and quite certain.
   • Slant rhyme: only the final k sound matches, which copies the sound of the teacher's tapping on the desk.
   • Full rhyme: the vowel and ending both match, which makes the practice sound smooth and quite sure.
5. 4.

   Jun scans the lines of stanza 2. Which choice names the meter and an effect it has?

   • Trochaic pentameter: the falling beat matches the teacher's tapping and the repeated bars.
   • Iambic pentameter: the even beat matches the teacher's tapping and the repeated eight bars.
   • Iambic pentameter: the even beat shows that the teacher is angry and impatient.
   • Iambic pentameter: the even beat shows that the speaker already plays quickly and smoothly.
6. 5.

   Kira compares how the lines of stanza 3 end with the lines of stanza 1. Which choice names the change and its effect?

   • Nothing changes: the lines of stanza 3 end with punctuation just as the lines of stanza 1 do.
   • Lines 10 and 11 stop short at their ends, so the bow seems to stick on the strings.
   • Lines 10 and 11 break the rhyme scheme, so the bow seems to stutter across the strings.
   • Lines 10 and 11 end without punctuation, so the sentence runs on, like the bow gliding.

7. Freight (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The freight train drags across the town,
   [2] a mile of rust and rolling brown;
   [3] it groans on every bend and bridge
   [4] and rattles loose along the ledge.

   Stanza 2
   [5] We count the cars, a game we keep,
   [6] until the numbers fall asleep;
   [7] by hundred twenty I forget
   [8] the count; the cars aren't finished yet.

   Stanza 3
   [9] Then slow. Then slower. Squeal. Then stop.
   [10] The couplings clank. The brakes. The drop
   [11] of silence settles on the street,
   [12] and I can hear my own slow beat.

   Stanza 4
   [13] And in the quiet that it leaves
   [14] the crickets start. The grass believes
   [15] the world is ours again, and sighs,
   [16] and settles, small, beneath the skies.
   Annotations: mark each stressed syllable, and give each new end sound a new letter.

8. 6.

   Milo scans the lines of stanza 1. Which choice names the meter and an effect it has?

   • Iambic tetrameter: the choppy beat shows the train stopping again and again.
   • Iambic tetrameter: the quick beat sounds like the train speeding toward a crash.
   • Iambic tetrameter: the even four-beat line rolls on like wheels, and one long sentence adds length.
   • Trochaic tetrameter: the falling four-beat line rolls on like wheels, and one long sentence adds length.
9. 7.

   Noah compares lines 9 and 10 with the stanzas before them. Which choice names the change and its effect?

   • Lines 9 and 10 chop the flowing sentences into short fragments, so the reader feels the brakes.
   • Lines 9 and 10 switch to a trochaic meter, so the beat suddenly falls and the train seems to stumble.
   • Lines 9 and 10 stretch into long flowing sentences, so the stop feels slow and drawn out.
   • Lines 9 and 10 lose their rhyme, so the train seems to fall silent before the poem has finished.
10. 8.

    Pia looks at the end words of lines 13 and 14, “leaves” and “believes.” Which choice names the rhyme and its effect?

    • Full rhyme: the clean match makes the ending feel unfinished and uneasy, as the quiet returns.
    • Full rhyme: leaves and believes match completely, which settles the poem as the quiet returns.
    • Slant rhyme: just the final z sound matches, which leaves the ending uneasy and not fully closed.
    • Full rhyme: the match imitates the chirping of the crickets, which the stanza names in line 14.
11. 9.

    Ren scans the lines of stanza 4 and compares them with stanza 3. Which choice names the meter and an effect it has?

    • Iambic tetrameter: the beat stays broken into short stops, as in stanza 3, so the quiet feels uneasy.
    • Iambic tetrameter: the smooth beat returns, and the run-on lines sound like evening settling.
    • Iambic tetrameter: the beat returns, and its speed shows the world rushing back to normal.
    • Spondaic tetrameter: heavy double stresses make the crickets sound like the train's brakes.
12. 10.

    Tala looks at lines 7 and 8, where the counting game changes. Which choice names the break and its effect?

    • The game continues unchanged, because line 8 gives the final count of the cars that have passed.
    • The rhyme breaks, because forget and yet no longer match, which is how the counting game ends.
    • The speaker loses count at line 7, and line 8 admits the cars keep coming, so the game fails.
    • The speaker finishes the count and feels pleased, so the game ends well and the train moves on.