
What instrument is being played in the story?
How long has the narrator been taking piano lessons?
How often does the narrator practice playing the piano?

What does Ruben initially struggle with during his practice?
How does Ruben's teacher respond to his mistakes?
What advice does Ruben's teacher offer him?
What action does Ruben take after receiving encouragement from his teacher?

What is the family heirloom described in the text?
Describe the history of the guitar as presented in the text.
The granddaughter plays the guitar every day.

What instrument does the daughter's young son pick up one winter morning?
How does the son feel about the sound the guitar makes?

Lines 1 and 2 help the reader determine that Mrs. Graham —

What does the personification in lines 33–36 help the reader visualize?

What can the reader conclude about the speaker’s feelings about the guitar?

Based on the endings of the poems, which of these predictions can the reader make about both Ruben in "Lessons" and the daughter’s son in "Family Strings"?

Why does the poet include the figurative language in lines 27–29 from "Lessons": "They are clumsy– two bags of sand too heavy to lift"? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
How do the poets of both "Lessons" and "Family Strings" use imagery effectively? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.

How does a poet’s choice of language make a poem enjoyable for the reader?
How is a poem different from other literary texts?
How does using interesting language help poets create images for the reader?
Who was the original owner of the guitar?
How old is the daughter's young son?
The second stanza (lines 11–22) suggests that the speaker —
Mrs. Graham’s dialogue with Ruben shows that she is —
The alliteration in line 32 highlights the speaker’s —
The poet includes onomatopoeia in line 40 to emphasize that —
The poet uses the poem’s structure to emphasize —
Which lines from the poem best support the answer to Part A?
One way the texts are different is that only "Lessons" has a character who —
Which event in "Family Strings" is similar to Ruben imperfectly playing the piano in "Lessons"?
Complete the sentence by selecting the correct answer from each drop-down menu. "Lessons" is written in _____ while "Family Strings" is written in _____