(Vol. 2, No. 1 - Winter 1998)

Teacher Talk -- The Assignment

Fall is a season of change. For some people it is a season of joy while for others it is a season of sadness.

Explain how the authors of the following two poems would respond to the statement above. Give specific examples from the poems to support your answer.

Fall

by Kristian Thomas

Oh, the weather is cool and fall is here,
the leaves are changing and the sky is clear.
There are parties with pumpkins,
turkey dinners with dumplings,
I enjoy the holidays during the fall,
the days off school - I enjoy it all!

The Lonely Leaf

by Jennifer Maron

I, the lonely leaf, both brown and red
hang here with the dread
of falling to my bed.
Oh, here I am all alone
the only leaf on my throne.
Here I go to the ground
deathward bound.

The Rubric

4 - Answer showed understanding of question, excellent examples (3 or more), well written, gave added insights and explanations.
3 - Answer showed understanding of question, answered using 2 or more relevant examples and was well written.
2 - Answer showed an understanding of the question, attempt was made to answer question using one example.
1 - Answer failed to mention examples to support writer's statement or was incomplete or incorrect.

Jackie's Paper

I think the first poem, Fall, by Kristian Thomas would probley respond to fall as a fun and wonderful time of the year becasue the author proves how she feels about fall in her own words.

She says that in fall, the weather is cool, leaves change to different colors, the skies are clear, there's parties with pumpkins and turkey dinners with dupplings. The author, Kristian says at the end of her poem that she enjoys doing it all!

I think The Lonely Leaf by Jennifer Maraon would probley respond to fall as very said time of the year. I know that because she explains on her story how she all alone (her as the leaf). Also because she says in her first sentence "I, the lonely leaf, both brown and red hang here with the dread of falling to my bed." One other reson I know probley doesn't enjoy fall too much because at the end she says "Here I go to the ground deathward bound."

I think of fall myself as a wonderful time of the year and as I say in one of my stories I've written, "fall is a wonderful time of the year, it's when leaves change colors and softly to the ground." The weather is nice and cool -- never too hot and never too cold. These are only some of the reasons why I love fall!

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