Page 323 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade8_Flipbook

aCTIVITy 4.9
elements of Humor: Hyperbole
learNING sTraTeGIes:
Note-taking, Marking the Text, Skimming/Scanning, Discussion Groups
literary Terms
Hyperbole describes the literary technique of extreme exaggeration for emphasis, often used for comic effect.
About the Author
Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) was a journalist who also wrote poetry, novels, and historical books. He is perhaps best known as a poet, although his biography Abraham Lincoln: The War Years won a Pulitzer Prize.
literary Terms
A yarn is a long, often involved story, usually telling of
incredible or fantastic events; an entertaining tale; a tall tale.
poetry
my Notes
Learning Targets
• Analyze the effect of hyperbole in poetry.
• Identify hyperbole in previously studied print and nonprint texts.
Understanding Hyperbole
1. Finish the lines using hyperbolic language. The first line is shown as an example.
• My dog is so big, he beeps when he backs up.
• I’m so hungry, I could eat a _________________________.
• My cat is so smart that _____________________________.
• She was so funny that ____________________________.
Preview
In this activity, you will read poems and think about the authors’ use of hyperbole.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• Asyoureadthepoem,underlinewordsandphrasesthatdemonstratehyperbole.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
• Mark lines you find humorous or strange with an exclamation point.
“ They Have Yarns” by Carl Sandburg
They have yarns
Of a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges On the two top stories so to let the moon go by, Of one corn crop in Missouri when the roots
Went so deep and drew off so much water
The Mississippi riverbed that year was dry,
Of pancakes so thin they had only one side,
Of “a fog so thick we shingled the barn and six feet out on the fog,”
Of Pecos Pete straddling a cyclone in Texas and riding it to the west coast where
“it rained out under him,”
296 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 8
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