How sound and shape carry a poem’s message

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Low Tide at Marrow Cove (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The tide pulls back and leaves the harbor bare,
   [2] and boats lie tilted in the shining mud;
   [3] a gull walks stiffly through the salty air
   [4] above the ribbons of a vanished flood.

   Stanza 2
   [5] The fishermen are mending nets on shore,
   [6] and children dig for clams along the sand;
   [7] their buckets rattle, and a distant roar
   [8] of waves is waiting just beyond the land.

   Stanza 3
   [9] But no one trusts the quiet. Every year
   [10] the sea comes back a little farther in,
   [11] and old men say it takes whatever's near
   [12] and leaves the shore a little more undone.

   Stanza 4
   [13] So still they build their walls, and still they wait,
   [14] and call the sea a neighbor, not a fate.
   Annotations: mark each stressed syllable, and give each new end sound a new letter.

2. 1.

   Ari letters the end sounds of lines 1–4, giving each new sound a new letter. Which choice gives the rhyme scheme and the rhyming words?

   • ABAB: bare and air rhyme, and mud and flood rhyme too, though they are spelled differently.
   • ABBA: bare and flood rhyme as the outer pair, and mud and air rhyme as the inner pair.
   • ABAC: bare and air rhyme, but mud and flood do not rhyme because their spellings differ.
   • ABAA: bare, air and flood end on one shared sound, and mud is left without a match.
3. 2.

   Bo scans line 1, “The tide pulls back and leaves the harbor bare.” Which choice names its meter?

   • Iambic pentameter: five feet, each an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
   • Anapestic pentameter: five feet, each two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one.
   • Iambic tetrameter: four feet, each an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
   • Trochaic pentameter: five feet, each a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one.
4. 3.

   Esme compares the end words of lines 2 and 4, “mud” and “flood.” Which choice names the rhyme?

   • Slant rhyme: mud and flood share just the final consonant sound, d, but their vowel sounds differ.
   • Internal rhyme: mud and flood rhyme inside their lines rather than at the line ends.
   • Full rhyme: mud and flood share a vowel and an ending sound, though their spellings differ.
   • No rhyme: the endings are spelled -ud and -ood, so the words do not match when read aloud.
5. 4.

   Jun letters lines 9–12, counting a slant rhyme as a rhyme. Which choice gives the rhyme scheme and the rhyming words?

   • EFEE: year, near and undone share a rhyme, so three of the four lines match.
   • EFEF: year and near rhyme fully, and in and undone share a slant rhyme.
   • EEFF: year and in rhyme as a pair, and near and undone rhyme as a pair.
   • EFEG: year and near rhyme, but in and undone do not match each other, so line 12 starts a new sound.
6. 5.

   Kira marks the stresses in line 5, “The fishermen are mending nets on shore.” Which choice shows where they fall?

   • Four stresses, on fish, mend, nets and shore: men gets no beat because it ends the word.
   • Three stresses, on men, nets and shore, because each foot has three syllables.
   • Five stresses, on fish, men, mend, nets and shore: an iambic line.
   • Five stresses, on the, er, are, ing and on: the beats fall on the lighter syllables.
7. 6.

   Luz compares the end words of lines 10 and 12, “in” and “undone.” Which choice names the rhyme?

   • Internal rhyme: in and undone rhyme inside their lines rather than at the ends.
   • Full rhyme: in and undone both end in n, so the endings match completely.
   • Eye rhyme: in and undone look alike on the page but are said differently.
   • Slant rhyme: in and undone share the n sound, but their vowels differ.

8. The Night Bus (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The last bus hums along the street
   [2] with windows full of light;
   [3] the driver nods, a sleeper dreams,
   [4] and no one speaks tonight.

   Stanza 2
   [5] We pass the dark and sleeping shops,
   [6] I think about my home;
   [7] a stranger smiles across the aisle,
   [8] and I don't know her name.

   Stanza 3
   [9] The driver calls my stop out loud,
   [10] and I stand up to go;
   [11] I'd like to stay among these lights
   [12] with nothing else to do.

   Stanza 4
   [13] The doors fold open on the cold;
   [14] I step down into night;
   [15] the bus goes humming down the street,
   [16] its windows full of light.
   Annotations: mark each stressed syllable, and give each new end sound a new letter.

9. 7.

   Noah scans the lines of stanza 1. Which choice names the meter?

   • Iambic: lines 1 and 3 have three feet, and lines 2 and 4 have four.
   • Iambic: lines 1 and 3 have four feet, and lines 2 and 4 have three.
   • Anapestic: lines 1 and 3 have four feet, and lines 2 and 4 have three.
   • Trochaic: lines 1 and 3 have four feet, and lines 2 and 4 have three.
10. 8.

    Pia compares the end words of lines 10 and 12, “go” and “do.” Which choice names the rhyme?

    • Slant rhyme: the vowel sounds in go and do are close, so the words nearly rhyme.
    • Eye rhyme: go and do end in one letter but are said with different vowels.
    • Full rhyme: go and do end in the same letter, so the two endings match when said aloud.
    • Internal rhyme: go and do rhyme inside their lines rather than at the ends.
11. 9.

    Tala scans line 14, “I step down into night.” Which choice names its feet?

    • Two anapestic feet: I step DOWN, in-to NIGHT, with three syllables each.
    • Three trochaic feet: I-STEP, down-IN, to-NIGHT, stressed first.
    • Three iambic feet: I STEP, down IN, to NIGHT.
    • Four iambic feet: I STEP, down IN, to NIGHT, and a rest.
12. 10.

    Zee compares the end words of lines 6 and 8, “home” and “name.” Which choice names the rhyme?

    • Internal rhyme: home and name rhyme inside their lines rather than at the ends.
    • Slant rhyme: home and name share the final m sound, but their vowels differ.
    • Full rhyme: home and name end in the same consonant, so the endings match completely.
    • Eye rhyme: home and name end in the same letter, e, so they match on the page.