1a. What creatures does the speaker describe in lines 1–4?
2a. What actions occur in lines 1–4?
3a. What does the speaker urge the mares to take? What does the speaker say will happen if the mares do not do this?
1b. What in the nighttime sky might these creatures be?
2b. What feelings or mood do lines 1–4 create?
3b. What time of day is the speaker describing in lines 5–10? What evidence supports your answer?
4a. How does the speaker seem to feel about the scene and time of day he or she is describing? How can you tell?
4b. Predict what will happen when the sun does arise. How might this change affect the feeling or mood of the nighttime scene?
5a. Briefly describe how you think the mares might feel when night ends. How might the tiger sun feel?
5b. Explain whether you can relate to the speaker's emotions in "Night Clouds." Describe the last time you felt as moved by a scene as the speaker in "Night Clouds."
Image, Imagery, and Metaphor. In order to unravel what all the images in this poem represent, imagine that you are a reporter and describe factually what occurs in the scene the speaker observes. Use your responses in the graphic organizer as a starting point.
Free Verse and Alliteration. Examine "Night Clouds." Does it have rhyme? rhythm? meter? regular stanzas? Find some examples of alliteration in this poem. What is the effect of the use of alliteration in this poem?
Antonyms. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word. Write down three antonyms for the word remote. Then, use each new word in a sentence.
1. Word in Context:
2. Word in Context:
3. Word in Context:
Finding the Complete Subject and Complete Predicate in a Sentence. Simple sentences can be divided into two parts: the subject and the predicate. In typical English sentences, the first part of the sentence tells us what or who the sentence is about. This is the complete subject. Then it gives us information about the subject; this second part of the sentence is called the complex predicate. In the following sentences, identify the complete subject and the complete predicate.
1. Ryan and Zac went to the football game.
2. My dog is very playful.
3. Mrs. Nelson teaches science.
4. I can't come over after school.
5. Her library book is overdue.
6. Every child sat entranced with the story.
7. Hillary is taking a pottery class.
8. One of the questions has been changed.
9. The check-out line was really long.
10. My imagination was running wild.
