Question

(1) the gradual warming trend
will likely go on.

(2) plains states will be abandoned as giant dust bowls.
good fertile lands shrinking and shrinking;
fewer and smaller farms.

(3) again, cities will fill with people
walking to work or crowding onto
too cramped trains
or overloaded buses.
too poor to own cars.

\the warming trend\—by anonymous

1. the poem has three stanzas. if there were no numbers, how would you know that the poem has three stanzas? _______________
2. are there couplets in the poem? _____________ if so, write the stanza number(s) _____________
3. are there tercets in the poem? _____________ if so, write the stanza number(s) _____________
4. are there quatrains in the poem? _____________ if so, the stanza number(s) _____________
5. are there cinquains in the poem? _____________ if so, the stanza number(s) _____________
6. stanzas, like paragraphs in prose, often present a focused idea. what ideas are presented in each of the stanzas? in other words, what are the stanzas about? what do these ideas tell you about the meaning of the poem?

Explanation:

1. Stanzas are separated by blank spaces in poetry; the blank gaps between the grouped lines show three distinct sections.
2. Couplets are 2-line stanzas; none of the stanzas have exactly 2 lines.
3. Tercets are 3-line stanzas; only stanza 2 has exactly 3 lines.
4. Quatrains are 4-line stanzas; only stanza 3 has exactly 4 lines.
5. Cinquains are 5-line stanzas; none of the stanzas have exactly 5 lines.
6. Stanza 1 focuses on the continuation of global warming. Stanza 2 covers the destruction of agricultural lands in plains states, leading to smaller, fewer farms. Stanza 3 describes urban overcrowding and poverty from displaced people. Together, they warn that unaddressed warming will ruin rural livelihoods and create overcrowded, impoverished cities.

Answer:

1. Blank spaces separate the stanza groups.
2. No
3. Yes; 2
4. Yes; 3
5. No
6. Stanza 1: The warming trend will continue. Stanza 2: Plains farmlands will turn to dust bowls, shrinking fertile land and farms. Stanza 3: Cities will become overcrowded with poor people who cannot afford cars. The poem means unstopped global warming will destroy rural agriculture and cause a crisis of urban poverty and overcrowding.