Discuss with the class several purposes you have for reading literature. Then, read the Prereading information on page 673. Discuss with the class the title of the poem, the literary elements used in the poem, and your response to the Reader’s Journal question. Then, consider how reading to identify the main idea affects your reading experience. What techniques do you use to identify main idea?
1. Follow along in the text as your teacher reads the first stanza aloud. In your notebook, write Stanza 1 and follow with a summary of the information presented in the stanza. You might also record some of the striking imagery and literary techniques employed in this stanza. What is the main idea of this stanza?
2. Read the remainder of the poem on your own. Record summaries of the remaining three stanzas and discuss the imagery and literary techniques. Briefly state the main idea of each stanza.
If you have difficulty applying the reading strategy, try reading shorter sections. Instead of summarizing each stanza, summarize the main ideas of each sentence or after every few lines. When you have finished summarizing all of the lines in a stanza, then work from your summaries to write a summary of the stanza and identify its main idea.
After reading, review your notes and summaries. Then, write a brief essay about the main idea of the poem. Be sure to support your opinions with evidence from the text. When finished, share your essay with a partner.