Poetry Annotation Practice
Directions: You are going to practice identifying all of the poetic devices studied so far and then analyze
why the poet used them. For each poem, do the following:
1. Read the poem twice! Then number the lines of the poem using numbers along the side.
2. Annotate the poem to identify poetic devices
● Write an “M” next to metaphors (comparisons NOT using like or as)
● Write an “S” next to similes (comparisons using like or as)
● Underline any alliteration (two or more words next to each other starting with the same
consonant (letter))
● Circle any onomatopoeia words (words that make the noises they describe)
● Box any personification (giving human characteristics to something that is not human)
● Write the words free verse or rhyme scheme at the bottom of the poem (free verse has no
pattern, rhyme scheme has a rhyming pattern)
● Write the rhyme scheme letters next to each rhyming line (this is the pattern of AABB, ABAB, etc.
of rhyming words at the end of each line)
3. Write the message next to the poem
4. Write at least 2 sentences describing why they poet used the poetic devices they used
Fear
By Gabriele Mistral
I don’t want to turn
My little girl into a swallow.
She would fly far away into the sky
And never fly again to my straw bed,
Or she would nest in the eaves
Where I could not comb her hair.
I don’t want them to turn
My little girl into a swallow.
I don’t want them to make
my little girl into a princess.
In tiny golden slippers
How could she play on the ados
And when night came, no longer
Would she sleep at my side.
I don’t want them to make
My little girl into a princess.
And even less do I want them
One day to make her queen
They would put her on a throne
Where I could not go to see her.
And when nighttime came
I could never rock her…
I don’t want them to make
My little girl into a queen!
Message:
Why did the poet use the poetic devices they used?
1. Read the poem twice! Then number the lines of the poem using numbers along the side.
2. Annotate the poem to identify poetic devices
● Write an “M” next to metaphors (comparisons NOT using like or as)
● Write an “S” next to similes (comparisons using like or as)
● Underline any alliteration (two or more words next to each other starting with the same
consonant (letter))
● Circle any onomatopoeia words (words that make the noises they describe)
● Box any personification (giving human characteristics to something that is not human)
● Write the words free verse or rhyme scheme at the bottom of the poem (free verse has no
pattern, rhyme scheme has a rhyming pattern)
● Write the rhyme scheme letters next to each rhyming line (this is the pattern of AABB, ABAB, etc.
of rhyming words at the end of each line)
3. Write the message next to the poem
4. Write at least 2 sentences describing why they poet used the poetic devices they used
Legacies
By Nikki Giovanni
her mother called her from the playground
“yes, ma’am” said the little girl
“I want chu to learn how to make rolls said the old woman proudly
but the little girl didn’t want
to learn how because she knew
even if she couldn’t say it
that would mean when the old one died she would be less dependent on her spirit so
the little girl said
“I don’t want to know how to make no rolls”
with her lips poked out
and the old woman wiped her hands on
her apron saying “lord
these children”
and neither of them ever
said what they meant
and i guess nobody ever does
Message:
Why did the poet use the poetic devices they used?
1. Read the poem twice! Then number the lines of the poem using numbers along the side.
2. Annotate the poem to identify poetic devices
● Write an “M” next to metaphors (comparisons NOT using like or as)
● Write an “S” next to similes (comparisons using like or as)
● Underline any alliteration (two or more words next to each other starting with the same
consonant (letter))
● Circle any onomatopoeia words (words that make the noises they describe)
● Box any personification (giving human characteristics to something that is not human)
● Write the words free verse or rhyme scheme at the bottom of the poem (free verse has no
pattern, rhyme scheme has a rhyming pattern)
● Write the rhyme scheme letters next to each rhyming line (this is the pattern of AABB, ABAB, etc.
of rhyming words at the end of each line)
3. Write the message next to the poem
4. Write at least 2 sentences describing why they poet used the poetic devices they used
A Journey
By Nikki Giovanni
It’s a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor the technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow
passenger . . .
Though the rail has been ridden . . . winter clouds cover . . . autumn’s exuberant quilt . . . we must provide
our own guideposts . . .
I have heard . . . from previous visitors . . . the road washes out sometimes . . . and passengers are
compelled . . . to continue groping . . . or turn back . . . I am not afraid . . .
I promise you nothing . . . I accept your promise . . . of the same we are simply riding . . . a wave . . . that
may carry . . . or crash . . .
It’s a journey . . . and I want . . . to go . . .
Message:
Why did the poet use the poetic devices they used?
*Hint – think about what the journey represents… is anyone going with her on this journey?
1. Read the poem twice! Then number the lines of the poem using numbers along the side.
2. Annotate the poem to identify poetic devices
● Write an “M” next to metaphors (comparisons NOT using like or as)
● Write an “S” next to similes (comparisons using like or as)
●
Underline any alliteration (two or more words next to each other starting with the same
consonant (letter))
● Circle any onomatopoeia words (words that make the noises they describe)
● Box any personification (giving human characteristics to something that is not human)
● Write the words free verse or rhyme scheme at the bottom of the poem (free verse has no
pattern, rhyme scheme has a rhyming pattern)
● Write the rhyme scheme letters next to each rhyming line (this is the pattern of AABB, ABAB, etc.
of rhyming words at the end of each line)
3. Write the message of the poem.
4. Write at least 2 sentences describing why they poet used the poetic devices they used
Sick
By Shel Silverstein
“I cannot go to school today,”
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more-that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut-my eyes are blueIt might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is brokeMy hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is...Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!”
Message:
Why did the poet use the poetic devices they used?