1a. What does the speaker say is on the coal? What does the earth do in Springhill? What does the speaker say is the price of coal?
2a. What happens to the miners? Where are the survivors trapped?
3a. What does Caleb Rushton suggest that the miners do?
4a. What happens to the living men? What happens to the dead?
1b. Why don't people sleep easy in Springhill? How does the speaker feel about the price of coal?
2b. Why might rescuing the miners be difficult?
3b. Why might he have made this suggestion?
4b. Why does the speaker say "Through all their lives they dug their grave"?
5a. List the fifth line of each section.
5b. What is similar about all eight lines? What effect does this repetition have on the mood?
6a. Do you think the title is appropriate for this selection? Why, or why not?
6b. If the title of this selection was "The Springhill Rescue," how would the language in this poem be different? What do you think the mood would be like?
Rhyme and Repetition. What effect do rhyme and repetition have on these lyrics?
Mood. Descriptive language helps create a gloomy, foreboding, frightening mood in this song. What other literary elements contribute to the mood of the song?
1. Write the copy that would appear on a compact disc packaging label for a collection of songs that includes "The Springhill Disaster."
2. Write the ninth stanza verses following the same pattern and rhyme scheme of the other eight stanzas.
3. Imagine a plaque is being installed at the mouth of the old Cumberland Mine in Springhill. Write a few lines in memory of the miners, including the year of the disaster mentioned in the song and the number of people trapped.
Creating Mood. Use this chart to jot down some sensory details you experienced during a recent situation. What mood did the situation create for you?
Adjectives and Adverbs. Descriptive language requires the use of adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns (he, she, we, it). Adverbs describe verbs. Identify the adjectives and/or adverbs in each sentence and indicate "adj" if it is an adjective or "adv" if it is an adverb. Then identify the noun and/or verb each describe.
1. It was a beautiful, sunny day.
2. My eyes are weary and heavy from staying out all night.
3. The ice skater skated gracefully along the pond.
4. The manager's duty is to see that the office runs smoothly.
5. The couple sang the song quietly and mysteriously.
6. Mining is a very dangerous profession.
7. The brave miners dig tunnels carefully.
8. I prefer safer jobs.
9. Some popular songs carry important messages.
10. I enjoy many different kinds of jobs.
