Junk

[|Link To Poem]

Understanding Poetry Junk By Richard Wilbur

First (SILENT) Reading 1. What is the structure of the poem? – sentence is broken up into two parts, the second part begins on the next line where the first one ended, lots of commans 2. What are some key words/patterns you notice as you scan/skim the poem? - 3. New vocabulary words and definitions? Ashcan- garbage can Hephaestus- Greek god of fire and craftsmen, lives in volcano. equivalent to Roman god Vulcan.

Second (ORAL) Reading 4. What is happening in this poem? There are is a trash can on the neighbors curb side and it is already being taken away to a dump 5. Answer with as many verbs as you can. Dump, peel off, bulldozed, rises, trundled, haul them off, hide, pulls, holds, torture 6. Who is the Persona? What is his/her attitude? He is watching trash get taken away and thing about where it is going and what is going to happen to it 7. What are the dominant images in the poem? What emotions do the images bring to mind? Trash by the curb side,

Third (ORAL) Reading 8. What is the poet’s (not the persona’s) attitude towards his or her subject? Looking at trash as a new life of something, every death brings new life 9. How does the author’s diction and use of poetic devices convey his or her attitude? High Diction