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Q12 - An Unexpected Gift (poem)

Last updated 9 months ago
4 questions
Note from the author:

6.8B - The student is expected to analyze the effect of meter and structural elements such as line breaks in poems across a variety of poetic forms.

  • Poets use meter and structural elements to emphasize, combine, or isolate certain details and/or ideas. Establishing a rhythm or flow can help the reader understand where the poet means to stress or subordinate parts of the poem. For example, the use of a line break can show how images or ideas are connected (because the thought is not finished by punctuation) but also creates a pause that allows the reader to consider the importance or impact of that single line.
  • line break: the visual end of a line, which may be used to emphasize rhythm and sound, create meaning and visual effects, and substitute for punctuation
  • meter: the basic rhythmic structure in verse composed of the number of stressed and unstressed syllables per line
  • stanza: a unit of poetry composed of lines that relate to a similar thought or topic—like a paragraph in prose or a verse in a song. Stanzas are separated from other stanzas by line breaks.

6.8B - The student is expected to analyze the effect of meter and structural elements such as line breaks in poems across a variety of poetic forms.

  • Poets use meter and structural elements to emphasize, combine, or isolate certain details and/or ideas. Establishing a rhythm or flow can help the reader understand where the poet means to stress or subordinate parts of the poem. For example, the use of a line break can show how images or ideas are connected (because the thought is not finished by punctuation) but also creates a pause that allows the reader to consider the importance or impact of that single line.
  • line break: the visual end of a line, which may be used to emphasize rhythm and sound, create meaning and visual effects, and substitute for punctuation
  • meter: the basic rhythmic structure in verse composed of the number of stressed and unstressed syllables per line
  • stanza: a unit of poetry composed of lines that relate to a similar thought or topic—like a paragraph in prose or a verse in a song. Stanzas are separated from other stanzas by line breaks.
1

Which answer did you pick for question 12?

12. What does the break between lines 4 and 5 in "An Unexpected Gift" help the reader
understand?

1

Why did you chose that answer?

Test Taking Tips

In order to answer this question, you need to understand what a stanza and a line break are.

A stanza can reveal the following about a poem:
  • Structure. A poem always has a structural framework in place. Stanzas are part of a poem’s architecture.
  • Pattern. In formal verse poetry, in which the poem follows a rhyme scheme and meter, the first stanza sets the pattern for the overall poem. The rhyme and rhythm used will repeat in the second stanza, and so on.
  • Organization. Often, the lines of a stanza explore a thought. As the poet moves onto the next thought, they might progress to a new stanza.
  • Set a mood. A break in between stanzas may signal a shift in mood or emotional tone.
  • Shape. The space around and between stanzas (or lack thereof), and the pattern they create on the page, defines the shape of a poem.

Answering the question:
  • Read the question carefully.
  • Look up any words in the question and answer choices that you do not understand. (It's difficult to answer the question correctly if you do not know what you are being asked.) Write them down on a scratch piece of paper or on the sticky note tool.
  • Review your "translation" of the poem.
  • Re-read stanzas I-II (lines 1-8).
  • Use the process of elimination when analyzing the answer choices. Try to come up with a reason why the answer choice is wrong. If you can give a reason, use the answer eliminator tool to cross it out.
  • Remember, if any part of the answer choice is incorrect, the entire answer choice will be incorrect.

Stanzas I-II (lines 1-8)

Some people say that all mistakes
come with a price that you must pay.
But I, myself, believe it true:
Mistakes can also make your day.

One summer day my family played
a racing game with cardboard boats.
My task was to invent my own,
with mini sails to make it coast.
1

Which answer should you have chosen for question 12?

12. What does the break between lines 4 and 5 in "An Unexpected Gift" help the reader
understand?

1

What will you do differently next time?