Question

1. How do the speaker's feelings toward turning ten contrast with his feelings about his younger years? Cite specific examples of figurative language from the poem.

A) The speaker's feelings toward turning ten are more positive than his feelings about his younger years. He uses figurative language to express this contrast.
B) The speaker's feelings toward turning ten are more negative than his feelings about his younger years. He uses figurative language to express this contrast.
C) The speaker's feelings toward turning ten are similar to his feelings about his younger years. Figurative language is not used to contrast these feelings.
D) The speaker's feelings are not clear, and figurative language is not used in the poem.

2. Reread lines 5 and 6 of the poem: "a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche." What type of connotation (negative or positive) does the reader feel considering the author's choice of words to describe turning ten years old? Explain your answer and include the author's word choices that make you feel that way.
A) The connotation is positive because the author uses words like "spirit" and "psyche" to suggest a positive transformation.
B) The connotation is negative because the author uses words like "measles" and "mumps" to suggest a negative and uncomfortable experience.
C) The connotation is neutral because the author's choice of words does not evoke a strong emotional response.
D) The connotation is contradictory because the author uses both positive and negative words, creating a mixed feeling.

3. How does the author's word choice convey the difference in his feelings about his younger years versus growing up? Give specific examples.

4. What message is the poet teaching us about how growing up can sometimes feel?
A) Growing up is always a positive experience.
B) Growing up is a mixed experience with both positive and negative aspects.
C) Growing up is a wholly negative experience.
D) The poem does not convey a clear message about growing up.

Answer 1

1: The speaker's feelings toward turning ten contrast with his feelings about his younger years. He uses figurative language to express this contrast. The speaker's feelings toward turning ten are more positive than his feelings about his younger years. He uses figurative language to express this contrast.

2: The connotation of the words in lines 5 and 6 is negative. The author uses words like 'measles' and 'mumps' to suggest a negative and uncomfortable experience. The connotation is negative because the author uses words like 'measles' and 'mumps' to suggest a negative and uncomfortable experience.

3: The author's word choice conveys the difference in his feelings about his younger years versus growing up. For example, he describes his younger years as a 'milky sea,' which suggests innocence and purity. In contrast, he describes growing up as 'chaos,' which implies disorder and confusion. These word choices help contrast the two stages of life.

4: The message the poet is teaching us about how growing up can sometimes feel is that it is a mixed experience with both positive and negative aspects. Growing up is a mixed experience with both positive and negative aspects.

The correct options are 1 is a, 2 is b and 4 is d.

Step-by-step explanation:

The speaker's feelings toward turning ten are expressed in a negative light in contrast to his memories of younger years. The figurative language used in the poem conveys a sense of loss and nostalgia.

An example from the poem, "a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche," implies that turning ten is akin to a sickness, therefore giving a negative connotation to growing up. These words, particularly "measles" and "mumps", suggest discomfort and unease about leaving childhood behind. The use of diseases to describe turning ten imparts a sense of regret and the end of an innocent phase of life.

Considering the author's word choices, the reader can discern that the emotions tied to turning ten are mostly sorrowful, as the excitement and imagination of the younger years seem to be slipping away. The use of concrete images in the form of childhood diseases conveys the sense of something being lost or taken away with the onset of age.

As for the message the poet is teaching us about growing up, it appears to lean towards illustrating growing up as a process with negative connotations, as the speaker reflects on the past with fondness and views the present milestone of turning ten as something that robs him of his joy and creativity.