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?

   • 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.
   • 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.
3. 2.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

   Milo letters the end sounds of stanza 1, giving each new sound a new letter. Which choice gives the rhyme scheme and the rhyming words?

   • AABB: street and light rhyme, and dreams and tonight rhyme.
   • ABCB: light and tonight rhyme, but street and dreams do not.
   • ABCD: no pair of end words rhymes.
   • ABAB: street and dreams rhyme, and light and tonight rhyme, since both street and dreams have a long e.
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.
    • Full rhyme: go and do end in the same letter, so the two endings match when said aloud.
    • Eye rhyme: go and do end in one letter but are said with different vowels.
    • 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?

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

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

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