FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS
Avarice
The Good Life
Money
1
Name: Date:
Avarice
Yusef Komunyakaa
The Good Life
Tracy K. Smith
Money
Reginald Gibbons
DIRECTIONS: Complete the following items after you have read the poems.
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RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over
the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.
1. (a) Write a summary of a poem.
Write a brief, objective summary of the poem “Money.” Include key ideas and
details, but do not include your personal opinions or discuss poetic techniques.
(b) Determine a theme of a poem and analyze its development.
Identify a theme, or message about life, found in “Money.” Then, explain how the
theme is developed over the course of the poem. What details help shape the
theme, and how? How do the incidents described contribute to the poem’s
message?
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.
FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS
Avarice
The Good Life
Money
2
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RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events
within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as
mystery, tension, or surprise.
2. Analyze how a poet’s choices concerning how to structure a poem create an
effect.
Reread the poem “The Good Life.” This poem is a single stanza made up of one
long sentence, but it makes a shift in line 4 that creates two distinct parts to the
poem. How does the meaning of lines 1 through 4 contrast with the meaning of
the rest of the poem? How does the poet transition from the first part to the
second, and what purpose does the transition serve? What effect does the poet
create by structuring the poem in this way?
Tone and Point of View
DIRECTIONS: Complete the following activity as either a written response or a group
discussion.
_____________________________________________________________________________
RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word
choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it
sets a formal or informal tone).
3. Identify the speaker’s point of view in “Avarice.” Then, describe the speaker’s
tone, or attitude toward the subject, and explain how specific words and phrases
in the poem contribute to that tone.
Use these guidelines in your writing or discussion.
Tell whether the point of view is first-person or third-person, and explain how
you know.
Identify key words and phrases that the speaker uses to describe the subject.
Consider what those words and phrases say about the subject and about how
the speaker views the subject.
Explain how specific words and phrases help develop the tone, or show the
speaker’s attitude toward the subject.
TIP FOR WRITTEN RESPONSE
Use precise words to convey your meaning. To find the best word for what you want to
communicate, use a thesaurus and choose the word that expresses most clearly what you
want to say.
TIP FOR DISCUSSION
Stay on topic. Think about what you want to say before you speak, and connect your
ideas to statements that others have made.
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.
FIRST READ EXTENSION QUESTIONS
Avarice
The Good Life
Money
3
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.
