1a. In stanza 1, in what activities does the speaker recall the rough children engaging?
2a. In stanza 2, what does the speaker recall having feared?
3a. What does the speaker do while the children are throwing mud? What did he long to do?
4a. What images in the poem show that the speaker now has some admiration for those rough children? What recalled images and events show that, despite this admiration, the speaker has not forgotten the pain that he felt as a child?
5a. Decide whether the speaker has forgiven the rough children. Explain your response.
1b. What does it tell you about the speaker's situation that he was not allowed to engage in such activities?
2b. In what circumstances would knees be "tight on my arms"? What evidently happened to the speaker during his childhood?
3b. Why do you think the speaker pretended to smile? Why did he long to forgive the rough children?
4b. How do you think the speaker would react if he met one of the rough children as an adult?
5b. Is it possible to forgive and still not forget? Give an example that supports your response.
Diction. Review the definition for diction in Literary Tools on page 937. Based on these descriptions, summarize what you know about the rough children and about the narrator. What verbs and adjectives describe the rough children and the speaker? What do these words reveal about the rough children and the speaker?
Simile. Review the chart you made for Literary Tools. What do the similes reveal about the rough children?
1. Write a request asking for permission to do something you are currently not allowed to do. You might address your request to your parents, the principal, or some other person in authority.
2. Write a description of the speaker from the point of view of one of the rough children.
3. Assuming that the speaker is the poet Spender, write a critical analysis of what his childhood must have been like and how it may have affected the later course of his life. For example, in line 8, Spender talks about having a lisp. How might this have influenced him to become a writer?
Sentence Fragments. Some of the examples below are fragments; some are not. Rewrite the fragments as complete sentences, adding words as needed. If a sentence is not a fragment, write OK on the line.
1. In the 1930s Spender's writing about modern technology, such as airfields and express trains.
2. The young poet an immediate popular success in a few years.
3. As an older man in the 1960s, wrote sympathetically about student rebellions in Europe and the United States.
4. Spender's autobiography, World Within World, portrays many other famous writers.
5. Later books of memoirs, travel articles, and history.
Compiling a Bibliography. Read about computerized and card catalogs in the Language Arts Survey 5.19, "How to Locate Library Materials." Depending on the cataloging system used in your library, use the card catalog or database to look up works available by Stephen Spender. Compile a selective bibliography that includes a sampling of Spender's poetry, travel writing, and memoirs from all stages of his career.
Selective Bibliography on Works by Stephen Spender:
Public Service Announcement.Write a public service announcement about one of these topics: • accepting rather than ridiculing differences • how cliques divide a community • the harmful effects of aggression
