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 is waiting for the brother to return; (2) the speaker is hoping the brother will come back soon.
   • (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.
3. 2.

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

   • 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.
   • It shows other creatures drawn to the light, widening its purpose beyond the brother.
   • It continues the neighbors' argument about wasting electricity, with the moths as more evidence.
4. 3.

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

   • Neighbors' advice should be ignored whenever a person loves someone who has gone away.
   • Waiting for a family member to come home is the one reason to keep a light on at night.
   • 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.

   Jun studies line 8 of “Porch Light,” “and I thank them, and I leave it on.” Which pair of readings does the line support?

   • (1) The speaker agrees with the neighbors' advice; (2) the speaker plans to turn the light off soon.
   • (1) The speaker is politely stubborn about the habit; (2) the speaker keeps a private hope alive.
   • (1) The speaker is stubborn about the light; (2) the speaker refuses to turn the light off.
   • (1) The speaker is politely stubborn about the habit; (2) the speaker secretly dislikes the neighbors.
6. 5.

   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 shows that the speaker is about to give up on the brother and turn the light off soon.
   • It repeats that the light is useful and ignores everything the light cannot do for the speaker.
   • It shows that the light has already solved the speaker's problem with the brother's silence.
7. 6.

   Luz reads both readings of line 16, “Let them see a house that's ready to be found.” Which theme keeps both readings?

   • People should keep a light on at night, because strangers are out walking the streets.
   • A speaker waits at night for a brother who took a bus east and called just once in July.
   • Being ready for others, even when no one is sure to arrive, is care that needs no answer.
   • A house is a home when the family who left it comes back to it, and not before then.

8. 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.

9. 7.

   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 continues describing the unclaimed items without any change in the speaker's position.
   • It shows that the speaker no longer cares about the other lost items in the bin.
   • It reveals that the custodian stole the jacket from the speaker before the truck came.
   • It moves from a general scene to the speaker's own jacket, adding a personal stake.
10. 8.

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

    • 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.
    • Giving up a belonging is a gift to whoever gets it next, and nothing more.
    • Letting go can be both a loss and a gift, and one quiet act may feel like each.
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 shows that the speaker is jealous of the next wearer and wants to keep the jacket.
    • It turns from the urge to claim the jacket to the next wearer, so letting go becomes a gift.
    • It shows that the speaker forgets the jacket completely and walks away from the truck.
    • It repeats the urge to run out and claim the jacket, as the first line of the stanza does.
12. 10.

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

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