Abandoned Farmhouse
1. 2. 3. 4.
Read the following poem once for general understanding. Draw lines where you find the logical divisions of thought in the poem. Read it again, looking for the following and annotate: diction, imagery, and details. Use the Evidence/Associative Chart to record the pieces of evidence that you feel are most important.
Abandoned Farmhouse BY TED KOOSER He was a big man, says the size of his shoes on a pile of broken dishes by the house; a tall man too, says the length of the bed in an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man, says the Bible with a broken back on the floor below the window, dusty with sun; but not a man for farming, say the fields cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn. A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves covered with oilcloth, and they had a child, says the sandbox made from a tractor tire. Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves and canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar hole. And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road. Something went wrong, says the empty house in the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars in the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard like branches after a storm--a rubber cow, a rusty tractor with a broken plow, a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say.
Ted Kooser, "Abandoned Farmhouse" from Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1980 by Ted Kooser. Reprinted by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press.
WORD/IMAGE/DETAIL 1. “broken dishes”
2. “Bible with the broken back”
3. “a rusty tractor with a broken plow”
4.
5.
ASSOCIATION Not usable, not functioning, messy dishes=mother Bible=father plow=child
PATTERNS
Bible – positive or negative
1, 2, 3 Repetition of “broken” three times, once with each person, and deliberately used)
Create an associative statement! NOTE: Yellow=evidence Blue=relationship Green=author’s purpose In the first stanza, the speaker says the father “was not a man for farming” and that the fields are “cluttered with boulders.” Similarly, in the last stanza, the speaker notes that the “stones in the fields say he was not a farmer.” The poet reinforces the idea that the father of the family is a failure as a farmer by placing these similar images at the beginning and end of the poem, revealing the pressure he feels to fulfill his role as the provider for his family.
YOU MUST INCLUDE your pieces of evidence. SHOW how the pieces of evidence are related (similarity, contrast, repetition). EXPLAIN what meaning or tone is created as a result of the relationship between these pieces of evidence (Use the participial phrase or infinitive phrase.). Author’s purpose Now, it’s your turn! Create your own associative statement using some evidence from the poem.
Determining Theme in a Work of Literature Step 1: Find the topic: The topic is one word, usually an abstract noun (for example— friendship, love, loyalty, betrayal, freedom, responsibility, truth . . .) Put the abstract topic in a sentence: ______________ is a (story, poem, book) about _______________. Example: Hatchet is a story about perseverance. Step 2: Answer the question: What does the author want me to think, feel, believe, or know about ___(the topic)? ***The answer to this question is the THEME. The statement of theme usually appears in the introductory paragraph and is the road map, guiding the reader through the argument you are making about the text. Example: In his book Hatchet, Gary Paulson reinforces the idea that some human beings are capable of persevering when a situation seems completely hopeless. Step 3: A universal statement moves beyond the text and provides some insight about life. This universal statement can be used in the conclusion of an essay to drive home the point you are making about the text. Example: People who persevere through seemingly overwhelming obstacles develop self-reliance, a trait will insure that they continue to thrive.
NOW, LET’S CREATE A STATEMENT OF THEME LIKE THE SAMPLE.
Essay Prompt Read the poem carefully. Analyze how the poet utilizes imagery, diction, and details to convey tone and theme in the poem “Abandoned Farmhouse.”
Read the following poem once for general understanding. Draw lines where you find the logical divisions of thought in the poem. Read it again, looking for the following and annotate: diction, imagery, and details. Use the Evidence/Associative Chart to record the pieces of evidence that you feel are most important.
Abandoned Farmhouse BY TED KOOSER He was a big man, says the size of his shoes on a pile of broken dishes by the house; a tall man too, says the length of the bed in an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man, says the Bible with a broken back on the floor below the window, dusty with sun; but not a man for farming, say the fields cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn. A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves covered with oilcloth, and they had a child, says the sandbox made from a tractor tire. Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves and canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar hole. And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road. Something went wrong, says the empty house in the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars in the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard like branches after a storm--a rubber cow, a rusty tractor with a broken plow, a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say.
Ted Kooser, "Abandoned Farmhouse" from Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems. Copyright © 1980 by Ted Kooser. Reprinted by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press.
WORD/IMAGE/DETAIL 1. “broken dishes”
2. “Bible with the broken back”
3. “a rusty tractor with a broken plow”
4.
5.
ASSOCIATION Not usable, not functioning, messy dishes=mother Bible=father plow=child
PATTERNS
Bible – positive or negative
1, 2, 3 Repetition of “broken” three times, once with each person, and deliberately used)
Create an associative statement! NOTE: Yellow=evidence Blue=relationship Green=author’s purpose In the first stanza, the speaker says the father “was not a man for farming” and that the fields are “cluttered with boulders.” Similarly, in the last stanza, the speaker notes that the “stones in the fields say he was not a farmer.” The poet reinforces the idea that the father of the family is a failure as a farmer by placing these similar images at the beginning and end of the poem, revealing the pressure he feels to fulfill his role as the provider for his family.
YOU MUST INCLUDE your pieces of evidence. SHOW how the pieces of evidence are related (similarity, contrast, repetition). EXPLAIN what meaning or tone is created as a result of the relationship between these pieces of evidence (Use the participial phrase or infinitive phrase.). Author’s purpose Now, it’s your turn! Create your own associative statement using some evidence from the poem.
Determining Theme in a Work of Literature Step 1: Find the topic: The topic is one word, usually an abstract noun (for example— friendship, love, loyalty, betrayal, freedom, responsibility, truth . . .) Put the abstract topic in a sentence: ______________ is a (story, poem, book) about _______________. Example: Hatchet is a story about perseverance. Step 2: Answer the question: What does the author want me to think, feel, believe, or know about ___(the topic)? ***The answer to this question is the THEME. The statement of theme usually appears in the introductory paragraph and is the road map, guiding the reader through the argument you are making about the text. Example: In his book Hatchet, Gary Paulson reinforces the idea that some human beings are capable of persevering when a situation seems completely hopeless. Step 3: A universal statement moves beyond the text and provides some insight about life. This universal statement can be used in the conclusion of an essay to drive home the point you are making about the text. Example: People who persevere through seemingly overwhelming obstacles develop self-reliance, a trait will insure that they continue to thrive.
NOW, LET’S CREATE A STATEMENT OF THEME LIKE THE SAMPLE.
Essay Prompt Read the poem carefully. Analyze how the poet utilizes imagery, diction, and details to convey tone and theme in the poem “Abandoned Farmhouse.”
