Question

“the drought” is a contemporary poem; the author has taken “poetic license” by choosing to mostly ignore what two rules of grammar?
read two other modern poems on the same topic, one entitled “drought,” the other also entitled “the drought.”
“drought” by a. shacknofsky
the sun beats down upon the dry terrain,
and all the farmers’ fields are brown and bare.
the fertile soil is parched through lack of rain
and famine’s frightful face is everywhere.
the dams are empty; all the rivers dry,
no food or precious water to be found,
and day by day the starving cattle die,
their sun bleached bones lie scattered on the ground.
from early light until the setting sun,
the farmers toil away through seorching heat.
there’s always something else that must be done,
a constant fruitless fight to make ends meet.
the days, the weeks and months pass slowly by,
but still no clouds appear up in the sky.
what type of poem is this?
what criteria does it meet?
which example of figurative language does this poet use the most?
what is the mood of this poem?
“the drought” by gary soto
identify the figurative language in the following poem:
the clouds shouldered a path up the mountains
east of ocampo, and then descended,
scraping their bellies gray on the cracked shingles of slate.
they entered the valley, and passed the roads that went
trackless, the houses blown open, their cellars creaking
and lined with the bottles that held their breath for years.
they passed the fields where the trees dried thin as hat racks
and the plow’s tooth bit the earth for what endured.
but what continued were the wind that plucked the birds spineless
and the young who left with a few seeds in each pocket,
their belts tightened on the fifth notch of hunger—
under the sky that deafened from listening for rain.
list the examples of figurative language in this poem on the lines provided after each line of poetry. (not all the lines have figurative language.) the first one is done for you.
this poem does not have a
; however, it is organized into
tercets, 3 line stanzas.
what is the mood of this poem?

Explanation:

For "Drought" by A. Shacknofsky:

1. Poem Type & Criteria: A sonnet follows a strict 14-line structure, divided into 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) and 1 couplet (2-line stanza), and typically uses a rhyme scheme. This poem matches this structure.
2. Most Used Figurative Language: Personification gives human traits to non-human things. The poem uses "famine's frightful face" (giving famine a human face) and frames the drought's impact on the land/animals as a human-like crisis, making this the most prominent device.
3. Mood: The poem describes parched land, dying cattle, starving farmers, and unrelenting dryness, creating a tone of despair, hopelessness, and defeat.

1. Figurative Language Identification:

• Line 1: "shouldered" gives clouds human physical action.
• Line 3: "Scraping their bellies" gives clouds human/animal physical action.
• Line 6: "held their breath" gives bottles human action.
• Line 7: "dried thin as hat racks" compares trees to hat racks using "as".
• Line 8: "bit the earth" gives the plow's tooth human action.
• Line 9: "plucked the birds spineless" gives the wind human action; "spineless" metaphorically describes the birds' helplessness.
• Line 11: "belts tightened on the fifth notch of hunger" uses hunger as a tangible, measurable force (metaphor).
• Line 12: "sky that deafened from listening for rain" gives the sky human sensory/action traits.

1. Poem Structure: The poem is organized into 3-line stanzas (tercets) but lacks a consistent rhyme scheme.
2. Mood: The poem depicts harsh, unrelenting drought, helpless suffering of the land and people, creating a bleak, despairing, and hopeless tone.

Poetic license often allows poets to ignore standard grammar rules for rhythm, flow, or emphasis. Common ignored rules are subject-verb agreement (to fit meter) and standard sentence structure (fragments, inverted word order for poetic effect).

Answer:

1. What type of poem is this? Sonnet

What criteria does it meet? 14 lines, 3 quatrains & a couplet, rhyme scheme

1. Which example of figurative language does this poet use the most? Personification
2. What is the mood of this poem? Depressing, despairing, hopeless, defeated

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For "The Drought" by Gary Soto: