Sec 1A1 only - Monday Lit Test

Homework for 1E4 only

I am sorry this is late. My internet connection was not working properly.

You can do this work BY YOURSELF - 6 similes and metaphors OR
You can do this work with a partner - 12 similes and metaphors.

For Jane of 1E4 -Literature Lesson 17 July 2009

Topic: Similes in Poetry
Objective: To analyse the effectiveness of the similes in the following poem.

Information: In this poem, Jessica Siegal uses similes to show the results of ageing.

Old Man

Old man, once sturdy as a mountain
Now fragile as a twig.
It is many years and many storms till a mountain is worn
But a twig can suddenly go snap

Old man, whose white beard is tangled like a net
Meshed and tangled is he
Tangled like old yarn
But yarn can be snagged.

Old man, whose face is gnarled like an old tree
Gnarled and cracked his face is
Like a rotted tree stump
But a rotted tree stump can crumble to dust.

Old man, how many snaps can you withstand?
How much more snapping?
How long will this go on?
Before you too crumble into dust?

Answer all the questions and send them by email to animesanzo@yahoo.com


1. What simile tells us how sturdy the old man once was?
2. ‘Now fragile as a twig’. What is the poet suggesting about the old man when she compares him to a twig?
3. How ‘tangled’ is the old man’s white beard?
4.‘Tangled like an old yarn’. Why does the poet compare the man to ‘old yarn’?
5.Why is the old man’s face similar to an old tree?
6.What simile did you most like in the poem? Why?