Page 43 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade8_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 1.5
continued
Understanding the Hero’s Journey archetype
poetry
Literary Terms
Plot is the sequence of related events that make up a story. There are five main elements of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and
resolution.
my Notes
by Gary Soto
I was hoping to be happy by seventeen.
School was a sharp check mark in the roll book,
An obnoxious tuba playing at noon because our team Was going to win at night. The teachers were
Too close to dying to understand. The hallways
Stank of poor grades and unwashed hair. Thus,
A friend and I sat watching the water on Saturday, Neither of us talking much, just warming ourselves
By hurling large rocks at the dusty ground
And feeling awful because San Francisco was a postcard On a bedroom wall. We wanted to go there,
Hitchhike under the last migrating birds
And be with people who knew more than three chords On a guitar. We didn’t drink or smoke,
But our hair was shoulder length, wild when
The wind picked up and the shadows of
This loneliness gripped loose dirt. By bus or car,
By the sway of train over a long bridge,
We wanted to get out. The years froze
As we sat on the bank. Our eyes followed the water, White-tipped but dark underneath, racing out of town.
Second Read
• Reread the poem to answer these text-dependent questions.
• Write any additional questions you have about the text in your Reader/Writer Notebook.
1. Key Ideas and Details: What is the speaker’s opinion of school? What details in the poem show this?
16 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 8
Saturday
at the
Canal
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