MAKING MEANING

POETRY COLLECTION

Turtle Watchers
“Nature” is what We see—
The Sparrow

Concept Vocabulary
As you perform your first read, you will encounter these words.

ancestors   wisdom   heed

Using a Dictionary To check the meanings of unfamiliar words, consult

a print or online dictionary. Dictionaries provide a word’s definition,
pronunciation, part of speech, variant forms, and etymology, or
word origin.
This box shows an example of a dictionary entry for the word anthology.
Note that the pronunciation is in parentheses, and the etymology is in
square brackets.

anthology (an THOL uh jee) n., pl. -gies [Gr. anthologia, a garland,
collection of short poems < anthologos, gathering flowers < anthos,
flower + legein, to gather] a collection of poems, stories, songs,
excerpts, etc., chosen by the compiler.

Apply your knowledge of using a dictionary and other vocabulary

strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words you encounter
during your first read.

First Read POETRY

Apply these strategies as you conduct your first read. You will have an
opportunity to complete a close read after your first read.
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 STANDARDS
Reading Literature
By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in the NOTICE who or what is ANNOTATE by marking
grades 6–8 text complexity band “speaking” the poem and vocabulary and key passages
proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range. whether the poem tells a story you want to revisit.
Language or describes a single moment.
Determine or clarify the meaning
of unknown and multiple-meaning
words and phrases based on grade 7
reading and content, choosing
flexibly from a range of strategies. CONNECT ideas within RESPOND by completing
c. Consult general and specialized
reference materials, both print and
the selection to what you the Comprehension Check.
digital, to find the pronunciation already know and what you
of a word or determine or clarify have already read.
its precise meaning or its part of
speech.

402 UNIT 4 • PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION : What effects do people have on the environment?

About the Poets Backgrounds

Linda Hogan (b. 1947) is an award-winning Turtle Watchers
Chickasaw novelist, essayist, poet, and Some sea turtles, such as loggerhead
environmentalist. Her writing often sea turtles, travel thousands of miles to
addresses topics such as the environment, lay their eggs on the same beach where
ecofeminism, and Native American history.
they were born. The turtles dig a small
An activist and educator, Hogan has spoken
at various global conferences and events
nest in the sand, where they lay their
including the Environmental Literature eggs, sometimes over a hundred in a
Conference in Turkey in 2009. She lives in single nest. When the eggs hatch, the
the Colorado mountains and teaches baby turtles make the dangerous trek
creative writing. back to the ocean to continue the cycle.

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) considered “Nature” is what We see—

books her “strongest friend.” Withdrawn From ancient Greeks to English
and shy, she spent most of her time at home romantics to Japanese haiku masters,
in Amherst, Massachusetts, reading and poets from every period of time have
writing. Most of her 1,775 poems were
contemplated the beauty of the natural
discovered after her death, including one
world. The poet William Wordsworth
that begins, “I’m nobody! Who are you?”
Today, Dickinson is considered one of the wrote, “Come forth into the light of
most important American poets. things, let Nature be your teacher.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was The Sparrow

the son of former slaves. Encouraged by his Sparrows are one of the most common
mother, he began writing poetry at an early birds in the world. They are often seen in
age. Dunbar was inspired by Harriet Beecher North America, but this was not always
Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and in his the case. In the mid-1800s, a man
own work he honored people who fought
named Nicholas Pike decided to bring
for the rights of African Americans. Over the
course of his life, Dunbar published more
several dozen over from England and
than ten volumes of poetry, four novels, and release them in New York. Since then,
these small brown birds have flourished
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four volumes of short stories.

and spread across the continent.

Poetry Collection 403

POETRY

Turtle
Watchers
Linda Hogan

Old mother at water’s edge

NOTES used to bow down to them,
the turtles coming in from the sea,
their many eggs,
5 their eyes streaming water like tears,
and I’d see it all,
old mother as if in prayer,
the turtles called back to where they were born,
the hungry watchers standing at the edge of trees
10 hoping for food when darkness gathers.

Years later, swimming in murky waters

a sea turtle swam beside me
both of us watching as if clasped together Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

in the lineage of the same world

15 the sweep of the same current,
Use a dictionary or indicate
another strategy you used that
even rising for a breath of air at the same time
helped you determine meaning. still watching.
ancestors (AN sehs tuhrz) n. My ancestors call them
MEANING: the keepers of doors
20 and the shore a realm to other worlds,
both ways and
water moves the deep shift of life
back to birth and before
as if there is a path where beings truly meet,
25 as if I am rounding the human corners.

404 UNIT 4 • PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

 POETRY

“Nature” is
what We see—
Emily Dickinson

“Nature” is what We see—

The Hill—the Afternoon— NOTES

Squirrel—Eclipse—the Bumble bee—

Nay—Nature is Heaven—

5 “Nature” is what We hear—

The Bobolink1—the Sea—
Thunder—the Cricket—
Nay—Nature is Harmony—

Use a dictionary or indicate

“Nature” is what We know— another strategy you used that
10 But have no Art to say— helped you determine meaning.
So impotent our Wisdom is wisdom (WIHZ duhm) n.
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To Her Sincerity— MEANING:

1. Bobolink n. small bird.

Turtle Watchers • “Nature” is what We see— 405

POETRY

The Sparrow
Paul Laurence Dunbar

A little bird, with plumage brown,

NOTES Beside my window flutters down,
A moment chirps its little strain,
Ten taps upon my window-pane,
Use a dictionary or indicate
another strategy you used that
5 And chirps again, and hops along,
helped you determine meaning. To call my notice to its song;
heed (heed) v. But I work on, nor heed its lay,1
MEANING: Till, in neglect, it flies away. Copyright © SAVVAS Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

So birds of peace and hope and love

10 Come fluttering earthward from above,
To settle on life’s window-sills,
And ease our load of earthly ills;
But we, in traffic’s rush and din
Too deep engaged to let them in,
15 With deadened heart and sense plod on,
Nor know our loss till they are gone

1. lay n. song.

406 UNIT 4 • PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

 Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read. Review and clarify
details with your group.

TURTLE WATCHERS

1. What are the “hungry watchers” doing?

2. What happens years later?

“NATURE” IS WHAT WE SEE—

1. What does the first stanza say nature is?

2. What does the second stanza say nature is?

3. What does the third stanza say nature is?

THE SPARROW
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1. What does the speaker do in response to the bird beside his or her window?

2. According to the speaker, how do we “plod on”?

RESEARCH
Research to Explore Choose one unfamiliar detail mentioned in one of the poems.
Briefly research that detail. For instance, you might research the life cycle of the sea turtle.
In what way does the information you learned affect your understanding of the poem?
Explain.

Poetry Collection 407

 MAKING MEANING

Close Read the Text

With your group, revisit sections of the text you marked
during your first read. Annotate what you notice. What
questions do you have? What can you conclude?
POETRY COLLECTION

Cite textual evidence

Analyze the Text to support your answers.

Notebook Complete the activities.

1. Review and Clarify With your group, reread the poems. Analyze
GROUP DISCUSSION
each poem, and determine the theme about nature that each poem
When you work in your
group to answer the suggests.
Analyze the Text questions,
2. Present and Discuss Now, work with your group to share the lines
be sure to support your
opinions and ideas with
from the poems that you found especially important. Take turns
evidence from the text. presenting your lines. Discuss what you noticed in the poems, what
questions you asked, and what conclusions you reached.

3. Essential Question: What effects do people have on the

environment? What have these poems taught you about the effects
people have on the environment? Discuss with your group.

language development

Concept Vocabulary
ancestors   wisdom   heed

 WORD NETWORK Why These Words? The concept vocabulary words from the poems are
related. With your group, determine what the words have in common.
Add interesting words
Write your ideas and add another word that fits the category.
related to people and the
planet from the text to your
Word Network.
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Practice
Notebook Use each concept vocabulary word in a sentence that
demonstrates its meaning. Read aloud your sentences to a partner, and
 Standards discuss any differences in your understandings.
Reading Literature
Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s
form or structure contributes to its Word Study
meaning.
Language Etymology The etymology, or word origin, of the word ancestors
Determine or clarify the meaning can help you understand and remember its meaning. Ancestors was
of unknown and multiple-meaning
formed from the Latin prefix ante-, meaning “before,” and the Latin
words and phrases based on
grade 7 reading and content, verb cedere, meaning “go.” Thus, ancestors literally means “those who
choosing flexibly from a range of have gone before us.” With your group, discuss “Turtle Watchers.” How
strategies.
b. Use common, grade-
does understanding the etymology of the word ancestors deepen your
appropriate Greek or Latin understanding of the poem?
affixes and roots as clues to the
meaning of a word.

408 UNIT 4 • People and the Planet

 essential question: What effects do people have on the environment?

Analyze Craft and Structure

The Speaker in Lyric Poetry When you read a poem you can “hear” a
voice speaking to you. That is the voice of the poem’s speaker. Like the
narrator in a story, the speaker in a poem is an imaginary voice created
by the poet. The speaker presents a unique view that expresses his or her
thoughts, feelings, personality, and attitude toward the subject. Although
they sometimes overlap, the speaker’s point of view is not necessarily the
point of view of the poet.

All three poems in this collection are examples of lyric poetry. A lyric
poem expresses the thoughts and feelings of a speaker about a
setting, a moment, or an idea, such as nature. In this form of poetry,
a poet typically uses vivid, musical language to express the speaker’s
observations, feelings, and insights. As a consequence, the reader’s
understanding is filtered through and shaped by the speaker’s
perceptions.

CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

Practice to support your answers.
Work with your group to analyze the poetry in this collection.
Answer the questions and use the chart to examine the similarities
and differences in approach in each of the poems.

QUESTIONS Turtle Watchers “Nature” is what We see— The Sparrow

What is
the poem’s
subject and
the speaker’s
attitude toward
the subject?

What vivid
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words and
descriptions
are used?

What is the
speaker saying
about people’s
relationship to
nature?

Poetry Collection 409

 Language Development

Author’s Style
Diction and Tone An author’s word choice, or diction, includes not
only the specific words but also the phrases and expressions an author
uses. In poetry, a poet’s word choice plays an important role in creating
poetic language, which is specific, imaginative, and rich with emotion.
POETRY COLLECTION A poet’s use of language helps to develop the tone of a poem, or the
poet’s attitude toward his or her subject.

To achieve these effects in a poem, a poet often chooses words not only
for their denotations, or dictionary definitions, but for the connotations
the words evoke in readers. Connotations are the ideas and feelings a
word brings to mind. Although, two words many have similar denotations,
a poet may choose one word over another because of the connotations
associated with the word. Consider the following lines of poetry:
• They rolled over the swells until they slid ashore.
• They slammed over the waves until they hit land.

Both examples convey roughly the same information. However, in the first
 Standards example, the words rolled, swells, and slid have calming connotations and
Reading Literature create a peaceful tone. In the second example, the words slammed, waves,
• Cite several pieces of textual
evidence to support analysis of what
and hit have harsher connotations and create a dangerous, anxious tone.
the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text. A poet’s word choice and tone help develop meaning in poem. Analyzing
• Determine a theme or central idea a poet’s word choice and tone can help you to make inferences, or
of a text and analyze its development
educated guesses, about the theme of a poem, or the insight about life
over the course of the text; provide
an objective summary of the text. that it suggests.
• Determine the meaning of words
and phrases as they are used in Read It
a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze Notebook Work with your group to identify specific word choices in
the impact of rhymes and other each poem, and note how these choices affect meaning and tone. When
repetitions of sounds on a specific
verse or stanza of a poem or section
you have completed the chart, discuss the possible themes your examples
of a story or drama. suggest.

POEM WORD OR PHRASE EFFECT ON MEANING OR TONE

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Turtle Watchers

“Nature” is what We see—

The Sparrow

Write It
Notebook Using your notes from the chart and your discussion,
work individually to write a brief paragraph about the theme of each
poem. In each paragraph, support your ideas about the theme with
the specific examples you gathered while working with your group. To
ensure you describe your thoughts accurately and concisely, consider the
connotations of the words you use.

410 UNIT 4 • People and the Planet

 Effective Expression

Speaking and Listening

Assignment  EVIDENCE LOG
Before moving on to
Using the analysis you have done so far, work with your group to
a new selection, go to
create an oral presentation that highlights the theme of one of the your log and record what
poems in the collection. Choose from the following options: you learned from “Turtle
a dramatic reading in which you use multimedia, such as music, Watchers,”’Nature’ is
props, and costumes, to convey the meaning and theme of the what We see—,” and
poem “The Sparrow.”

a digital multimedia presentation in which you use videos,

images, and other digital media to convey the meaning and theme
of the poem

Project Plan Assign roles for each member of your group. For groups
who have chosen the dramatic reading, roles can include speakers to
recite the poem, a sound person, a costume designer, and a person to
identify and organize visuals and music. For groups who have chosen the
digital multimedia presentation, roles can include a speaker, a multimedia
researcher, and a person to organize the information for the presentation.

Plan and Practice Your Delivery To project confidence and a positive

attitude, plan and practice your delivery both individually and as a group.
As you practice, use the following strategies to refine your presentation
techniques:

• Check equipment. If your presentation involves use of audio or

video, practice your presentation along with the media. Work on the
timing of media and how it relates to the rest of the performance.
• Use your voice well. Be energetic, but speak clearly and precisely.
Enunciate every word. Vary the pitch and speed of your voice to keep
listeners engaged. Make sure you are speaking loudly enough to be
heard by the entire class.
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• Make eye contact. Memorize as much of your part of the

presentation as possible. Doing so will enable you to make eye
contact with your audience more frequently.  Standards
Speaking and Listening
Present and Evaluate Once you have rehearsed, present your work to • Present claims and findings,
the class. After the presentation, invite comments and feedback from emphasizing salient points in a
focused, coherent manner with
your classmates. Be prepared to answer their questions.
pertinent descriptions, facts, details,
and examples; use appropriate eye
When other groups present their work, listen attentively. Evaluate their contact, adequate volume, and clear
performance, and provide feedback to them in a respectful way. pronunciation.
• Include multimedia components
and visual displays in presentations
to clarify claims and findings and
emphasize salient points.
• Adapt speech to a variety of
contexts and tasks, demonstrating
command of formal English when
indicated or appropriate.

Poetry Collection 411