1a. Why does the speaker miss his father?
2a. What does the speaker remember about his father?
3a. In what ways does the speaker describe his father? What does he remember about his father's physical nature? about his mannerisms?
4a. What "things" do you think the speaker's father said to his son? What "things" might the speaker want to say to his father?
1b. What do you think has happened to the speaker's father?
2b. Why does the speaker call up this particular memory?
3b. This poem is called "My Father's Song," yet there is no singing or music. What is the song in this poem?
4b. What might the speaker do to feel better? How might he choose to celebrate his memories?
Aim. Do you think Ortiz's goal was to inform, persuade, tell a story, reflect, or share his perspective? What, specifically, was Ortiz trying to convey through this poem? Do you think he accomplished his purpose?
Assonance. In what way does assonance contribute to the sound of this poem?
Flashback. Why do you think the author chose to include a flashback in this poem? How does the flashback contribute to the meaning of the poem?
Using your own paper, make a storyboard that shows the action in this poem chronologically. Recall the major events of the poem, and then illustrate the events in a series of squares.
1. Imagine you found Carlos's parrot. Write a lost and found advertisement about the parrot for the local newspaper.
2. Write a note from Carlos's teacher to Carlos, encouraging him to write his feelings.
3. In "My Father's Song," the speaker's father taught him an important lesson about taking care of animals when he moved the mouse's nest to a safe place. Write five fortune cookie inserts that might teach lessons on issues that you think are important in life.
Prepositional Phrases. A preposition is used to show how its object is related to other words in the sentence. Common prepositions are in, on, over, under, before, after, among, at, behind, beside, off, through, until, upon, and with. The preposition begins a phrase that contains the object.
In the sentence below, under is the preposition and the bridge is the object of the preposition. Note how this prepositional phrase gives additional information about where the car drove.
The car drove under the bridge.
Changing the preposition causes the meaning of the sentence to change.
The car drove over the bridge.
Changing the object of the preposition creates a new relationship in the sentence.
The car drove under the fallen tree.
In the sentences above, the prepositional phrase modifies the verb. A prepositional phrase can also modify a noun, an adverb, or an adjective. In the sentences below, the prepositional phrase modifies the noun.
The boy in the yellow shirt is Tom's brother.
Add a prepositional phrase to each of the following sentences to tell something more about the subject or verb.
Example: My dog barks. My dog barks at the moon.
1. My house is the small one.
2. Fred and Jeb walked.
3. Sylvia ate a whole pizza.
4. John and Erica laughed.
5. The sun shone.
6. The bicycle was parked.
7. Paul and Amy loved going out.
8. Simon Ortiz writes poetry.
9. The cat ran.
10. Robert did not want to clean the garage.
Using Precise Verbs. The sentences below contain verbs that express meaning but that do not convey precise details about the action in the sentence. Identify the verb in each sentence, changing the existing verb to a verb that is more specific, more informative, or more creative. See the Language Arts Survey 3.37 "Adding Colorful Language to Sentences" for more help with this activity. Check a thesaurus if you have trouble thinking of new verbs for the sentences. For more information, see the Language Arts Survey 5.21, "Using a Thesaurus."
Example: I went to the drugstore. I strolled to the drugstore.
1. Sam quickly wrote directions to his house.
2. Aunt Maud always talks about her little poodle.
3. I will make dessert.
4. The cars move down the road.
5. Jan took a chocolate from the tray.
6. Suzanne writes beautiful poems and songs.
7. Charlie dislikes taking a nap.
8. The hungry caterpillar ate the entire leaf.
9. Karen and Louis play constantly.
10. Howard easily did his homework.
