1a. According to the speaker in "First Lesson," what do fathers believe about change? What are the speaker's examples of this?
2a. What does the speaker say fathers must learn?
3a. In "My Father's Hands Held Mine," what were the speaker and his father making when his father's hands held his hands?
4a. How does the speaker's father speak to him?
1b. Why might these things be threatening to a father?
2b. What does this mean?
3b. What is significant about this? How has this way of doing things changed?
4b. What does this mean?
5a. What different ways are fathers described in "First Lesson"? Which descriptive words or phrases are most significant to the meaning of the poem? In "My Father's Hands Held Mine," which words and phrases deal with hands and the work they do?
5b. State briefly, in your own words, what the speaker's main point about fathers is in "First Lesson." What is the speaker's message in "My Father's Hands Held Mine"?
6a. Which of the two poems is more personal? Which mentions the future? Which reflects on the past?
6b. Which of the two poems better describes your relationship with your father or your understanding of what father-child relationships are like?
Theme. Look back to the organizer you used to generate possible themes for both poems. Read each of the poems again and generate another possible theme for each one. Then consider what both poems have to say about fathers and generate one theme that applies to the ideas expressed in both poems.
Speaker. In what ways do you think the speakers of these two poems might mirror the thoughts of the poets who wrote them?
1. Write a thank-you note to someone who taught you an important lesson in life or to whom you feel grateful for some other reason. Thank this person for influencing your life in a positive way.
2. Create a character sketch of the speaker's father in "My Father's Hands Held Mine," using your imagination to describe his experience and using what the speaker reveals about him to describe his background and personality.
3. Write an advice-column response to the question, written by a twelve-year-old, "My father is overprotective. What should I do?"
Example moccasin
1. maize
2. tomato
3. tomahawk
4. canoe
5. iguana
6. igloo
7. Illinois
8. totem
9. appaloosa
10. Seattle
Looking at Careers: Research Log. Use this log to keep track of the sources you use, the information you find, and your reactions to what you learn.
Book and print sources.
Internet sources.
Report.
Talking about Issues. Qualities that make a good parent:
Editing for Capitalization Errors. Read the Language Arts Survey 3.93–3.97, "Editing for Capitalization Errors." Then, rewrite the following sentences, changing lowercase letters to capital letters wherever necessary.
Example Norman H. Russell was born in big stone gap, virginia. Norman H. Russell was born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia
1. He wrote a collection of poetry called at the zoo.
2. He draws upon his cherokee heritage to write poetry.
3. Phyllis McGinley was born in oregon in 1905.
4. She won the pulitzer prize in 1961 for her volume of poetry Times Three.
5. I live at 444 atlantic boulevard.
6. We have a beautiful Lake near our house.
7. Every morning principal Johnson welcomes the students and reads the daily announcements.
8. My Dad likes to go fishing with uncle Bob and aunt Lucy.
9. They like to fish on willow river because it is well stocked with trout.
10. We are moving to the Southern part of the state next month.
