Before you complete this assignment, go back a reread "Casey at the Bat" on p.110-113 in your poet's journal.
Now it's time to explore the way this poem uses poetic devices. To do this, you will need to use things you learned from other lessons in the poetry unit. Think back to the different kinds of poetic devices you have learned about so far. Thayer uses a lot of them in his poem!
Answer the following questions, consulting the poem as needed, to think more about which devices he used and why he chose them.
Question 1
1.
In stanzas 1 and 2, the phrases "sickly silence" and "deep despair" are examples of which poetic device?
Question 2
2.
Poets often use alliteration to add emphasis to certain details. Look back at the first two stanzas of "Casey at the Bat." Why might the "sickly silence" and "deep despair" be important things to emphasize here?
Question 3
3.
Stanza 4 describes how Blake "tore the cover off the ball." The poet uses figurative language here: Blake did not really tear up the ball. What is the figurative meaning of the statement?
Question 4
4.
In stanza 9, the poet writes:
...there went up a muffled roar,
Like beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
Read each word carefully. What poetic device is used here? Name the word that helps you know this.
Question 5
5.
The lines in question 4 compare two different things. What are they?
Question 6
6.
How are the two things compared by the lines in question 4 similar?
Question 7
7.
Stanza 13 repeats the word "somewhere" many times. Circle the word every time it appears in the stanza. How many times does it appear?
Question 8
8.
We know that poets often use repetition to focus on important details. Why might the author of this poem want to focus on "somewhere" in this stanza?