Words, Words Words: Practice

In today's class, we are going to begin the Words, Words, Words common assessment by looking at the following poems:

Andrew Hudgins, "Tree"

Martin Espada "Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper"

Alice Walker "Remember":

Remember me?
I am the girl
with the dark skin
whose shoes are thin
I am the girl
with the rotted teeth
I am the girl
with the wounded eye
and the melted ear.

I am the girl
holding their babies
cooking their meals
sweeping their yards
washing their clothes
Dark and rotting
and wounded, wounded.

I would give
to the human race
only hope.

I am the woman
with the blessed
dark skin
I am the woman
with teeth repaired
I am the woman
with the healing eye
the ear that hears.

I am the woman: Dark,
repaired, healed
Listening to you.

I would give
to the human race
only hope.

I am the woman
offering two flowers
whose roots
are twin

Justice and Hope
Hope and Justice

Let us begin.

Use your notes on poetic devices and need-to-know terms to locate and label your poems. After you've selected a poem that stands out to you, please complete a blog entry that responds to the following questions:

1. What is the theme of your poem?
2. Offer one poetic device that helps show the theme of this poem. What lines or words demonstrate this device? (Make sure to cite your lines properly in your blog post.)