What a poem says, and what else it could mean

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Porch Light (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] Every evening at dusk I flip the switch
   [2] and the bulb comes up, yellow as a held note.
   [3] My brother took the late bus east in June.
   [4] He said he'd call. He called. That was July.

   Stanza 2
   [5] The neighbors say it wastes electricity.
   [6] They say it with a casserole, the way
   [7] you say a hard thing to someone you like,
   [8] and I thank them, and I leave it on.

   Stanza 3
   [9] Moths come, a small soft weather of them,
   [10] knocking their bodies on the glass
   [11] as if the light had promised them something.
   [12] By morning the glass is dusted with wings.

   Stanza 4
   [13] I know what a light is for. I know
   [14] what it can't do. Still, the street is long,
   [15] and somewhere someone is walking it.
   [16] Let them see a house that's ready to be found.
   Annotations: beside each stanza write what it does, and mark any line that supports two readings.

2. 1.

   Ari studies line 15 of “Porch Light,” “and somewhere someone is walking it.” Which pair of readings does the line support?

   • (1) The speaker has given up on the brother; (2) the light is a signal for the brother to stay far away.
   • (1) The speaker still hopes the brother will walk home; (2) the speaker wants the light to frighten the neighbors.
   • (1) The speaker still hopes the brother will walk home; (2) the speaker keeps the light for any stranger.
   • (1) The speaker is waiting for the brother to return; (2) the speaker is hoping the brother will come back soon.
3. 2.

   Bo compares stanza 3 with stanza 2 of “Porch Light.” Which choice best says what the shift to the moths does?

   • It continues the neighbors' argument about wasting electricity, with the moths as more evidence.
   • It shows other creatures drawn to the light, widening its purpose beyond the brother.
   • It shows the light is useless, because the moths knock on the glass and cannot reach it.
   • It warns that the light harms small creatures, so the speaker should switch it off tonight.
4. 3.

   Esme reads both readings of “Porch Light.” Which theme keeps both readings?

   • Waiting for a family member to come home is the one reason to keep a light on at night.
   • Neighbors' advice should be ignored whenever a person loves someone who has gone away.
   • Small acts of care can be worth keeping up with no promise of an answer, and may reach strangers.
   • A person leaves a porch light on at night for a brother who moved away on a late bus.
5. 4.

   Kira studies the word “Still” in line 14 of “Porch Light.” Which choice best says what the shift in that line does?

   • It admits the light's limits and then chooses to keep it lit, turning waiting into care.
   • It repeats that the light is useful and ignores everything the light cannot do for the speaker.
   • It shows that the speaker is about to give up on the brother and turn the light off soon.
   • It shows that the light has already solved the speaker's problem with the brother's silence.

6. Lost and Found (original poem)

   Stanza 1
   [1] The bin by the gym door holds a small museum:
   [2] one cleat, a retainer in a napkin shroud,
   [3] seven single gloves, each reaching out
   [4] for a hand that has probably moved on.

   Stanza 2
   [5] The principal reads announcements twice a week:
   [6] "Claim your belongings by Friday."
   [7] No one does. The hoodies pile up,
   [8] still holding the shapes of their shoulders.

   Stanza 3
   [9] On Friday the custodian carries the bin out
   [10] to a truck marked DONATIONS, and I watch
   [11] my own green jacket slide down the pile.
   [12] I know that jacket. I have known it for years.

   Stanza 4
   [13] I could say something. I could run out.
   [14] Instead I think of whoever zips it next,
   [15] the warm weight of someone else's winter,
   [16] and I let the truck door close.
   Annotations: beside each stanza write what it does, and mark any line that supports two readings.

7. 5.

   Milo studies line 16 of “Lost and Found,” “and I let the truck door close.” Which pair of readings does the line support?

   • (1) The speaker lets a loved jacket go out of shyness; (2) the speaker chooses to give it away.
   • (1) The speaker passively lets the jacket go; (2) the speaker is angry at the custodian for the donation.
   • (1) The speaker lets the jacket go; (2) the speaker allows the truck door to close on the jacket.
   • (1) The speaker stops the truck and takes the jacket back; (2) the speaker did not want the jacket.
8. 6.

   Noah compares stanza 3 with the stanzas before it in “Lost and Found.” Which choice best says what the shift in stanza 3 does?

   • It moves from a general scene to the speaker's own jacket, adding a personal stake.
   • It shows that the speaker no longer cares about the other lost items in the bin.
   • It continues describing the unclaimed items without any change in the speaker's position.
   • It reveals that the custodian stole the jacket from the speaker before the truck came.
9. 7.

   Pia reads both readings of the ending of “Lost and Found.” Which theme keeps both readings?

   • Letting go can be both a loss and a gift, and one quiet act may feel like each.
   • Giving up a belonging is a gift to whoever gets it next, and nothing more.
   • Schools should donate the belongings that students leave behind without asking them.
   • A student watches a custodian carry a lost-and-found bin to a donation truck on a Friday afternoon.
10. 8.

    Ren studies line 12 of “Lost and Found,” “I know that jacket. I have known it for years.” Which pair of readings does the line support?

    • (1) The speaker has a long attachment to the jacket; (2) the speaker has not once worn the jacket.
    • (1) The speaker knows the jacket well; (2) the speaker has been familiar with the jacket for a long time.
    • (1) The speaker has not seen the jacket before; (2) the speaker is just guessing that it is theirs.
    • (1) The speaker is long attached to the jacket; (2) the speaker has outgrown it and must let go.
11. 9.

    Tala studies the word “Instead” in line 14 of “Lost and Found.” Which choice best says what the shift in that line does?

    • It turns from the urge to claim the jacket to the next wearer, so letting go becomes a gift.
    • It repeats the urge to run out and claim the jacket, as the first line of the stanza does.
    • It shows that the speaker is jealous of the next wearer and wants to keep the jacket.
    • It shows that the speaker forgets the jacket completely and walks away from the truck.
12. 10.

    Zee reads both readings of line 15, “the warm weight of someone else's winter.” Which theme keeps both readings?

    • Parting with something loved may cost us and still help someone, and both feelings can be true.
    • A person who loses a jacket will find another one before winter arrives, as the poem promises.
    • Things we outgrow should be given away without any sadness, since giving away is the point.
    • A speaker thinks about who will wear a donated green jacket next winter and lets it go.