1a. What does the speaker of this poem tell you to do? What does the speaker do after a shade of blue is mentioned?
2a. What are some of the shades of blue and examples of that color that the speaker mentions?
3a. In what order does the speaker present shades of blue?
1b. Explain why you think the speaker asks the reader to do this. What does the speaker seem to enjoy doing?
2b. What do most of these images of blue things have in common? In what way is this poem a "blue comucopia"?
3b. Why do you think the speaker chose to present these shades of blue in this order?
4a. Identify the feelings (either emotional or physical) each different shade of blue created in you. If you had to use a word or two to sum up the examples for each shade of blue, how would you describe them?
4b. Explain whether you think the poet was successful in capturing the different emotions that various shades of a color can create in a person. Do you agree with the emotions and feelings the poet seemed to assign to the different shades of blue?
5a. Decide whether the color blue is enough of a topic for a poem, supporting your opinion with examples from the poem.
5b. Explain whether you prefer lyric poetry like "Blue Cornucopia" that explores emotions or images rather than narrative poetry like "Paul Revere's Ride" that tells a story.
Repetition. What is the word or words repeated in this poem? Explain whether this is a fitting word or group of words to repeat.
Image and Imagery. While most of the images in "Blue Cornucopia" describe things that can be seen, some images do appeal to other senses. Identify the senses to which the following images appeal: "gray-blue blue bonfire smoke autumnal / haze blue hill blueberry distance"
"winter / blue snow-shadows ice the blue star Vega"
1. Imagine that you have to describe a oolor to someone who has never seen it Write a description in which you try to describe a color of your choice by relying on sense other than sight.
2. Write one or two lines of poetry using alliteration and/or onomatopoeia. Choose a topic, such as a color, a season, or an object. Then brainstorm a list of words that either begin with the same sounds (silky, smooth) or sound like what they are (swish, click). Use your list as inspiration to write a poetic line or two about your topic.
3. Write a consumer report about the benefits and drawbacks of buying a player piano. Base your information on Updike's poem "Player Piano." Remember that a consumer report is written in plain, nonfiction language for a potential buyer of a product.
Word Origins. Onomatopoeia is not only a literary technique; it is also a method by which words enter the English language. Another word for onomatopoeia is echoic. If you look up the words murmur and clang in the dictionary, you will see that they are described as echoic, meaning that they were invented when people tried to capture a certain sound. Read the Language Arts Survey 1.21, "Exploring Word Origins and Word Families" to learn about some of the other ways in which words enter the English language. Then match up each word below with its origin.
1. names of people and places click to select answer a. Kleenex b. enchilada c. Petrarchan d. PC e. sub
2. acronyms click to select answer a. Kleenex b. enchilada c. Petrarchan d. PC e. sub
3. borrowed from other languages click to select answer a. Kleenex b. enchilada c. Petrarchan d. PC e. sub
4. shortened from longer words click to select answer a. Kleenex b. enchilada c. Petrarchan d. PC e. sub
5. brand names click to select answer a. Kleenex b. enchilada c. Petrarchan d. PC e. sub
Working with Interrupters: Parenthetical Expressions. Review the Language Arts Survey 3.76, "Parenthetical Expressions." Identify parenthetical expressions in the following sentences. Add punctuation as needed.
1. Blue is a favorite color for young people judging by jeans wearers.
2. My favorite color incidentally is purple.
3. A cornucopia by the way is a container shaped like a horn or cone and is usually shown overflowing with fruit and ears of grain.
4. The cornucopia therefore has come to represent the idea of an abundance or plentiful store of things.
5. Too many parenthetical expressions I think may annoy readers.
6. Blue if you think about it is a very popular color.
7. Yellow on the other hand is not as well-liked by many people.
8. That of course is only my opinion.
9. Red generally speaking is another color that most people claim as their favorite.
10. It is at the very least more popular than yellow.
Computerized and Card Catalogs. Review the information on computerized and card catalogs in the Language Arts Survey 5.18, "How to Locate Library Materials." Then go to your school or local library and use the computerized or card catalogs there to find the answers to the following questions.
1. Elinor Wylie also wrote novels, including one about an English Romantic poet named Percy Bysshe Shelley. What is the name of the novel?
2. John Updike is not the only writer to use the title "Player Piano." Another American novelist wrote a popular novel with the same name. Who is this novelist?
3. Find the title of the John Updike novel that was published in 1981 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1982.
4. Who wrote a collection of literary criticism called Hugging the Shore in 1982?
5. What is the name of the American poet who, like Elinor Wylie, wrote sonnets and who published a Pulitzer-Prize-winning collection of poetry in 1922 called The Ballad of the Harp Weaver?
