Lesson Plan for HKIEd

After reading it, have the students read the verse aloud. This should be done together and can be done
phrase by phrase, line by line, or the whole stanza at once.
Discuss the following comment on the student worksheet:
The poem has an extremely strong rhyme and syllable pattern. That means that when you read the
poem out loud, you feel the strong beat of the poem. Through the whole poem, the feeling is that
something is coming and the strong beat gives the sense that no one can stop the unknown thing from
coming. In addition the poet repeats many lines, which also adds to this feeling. The poem (like all
poems) MUST be read aloud to get the feeling the poet wants to express.
Questions
1. Write the number of syllables for each line.
a) line 1 _16__ b) line 2 _16_ c) line 3 _16_ d) line 4 _15_ e) line 5 _15_ f) line 6 __7_
2. What is the poet doing when he gives the final line a small number of syllables?
He is making us read it more slowly. He is giving it more importance/ more emphasis.
3. What is the rhyme scheme of the first verse? ___a, b, c, b, b, b______
4. What words create the internal rhyme in line 1 and line 3?
___dreary______ ____weary_____
___napping_____ ___tapping___
Part E Second Verse of ‘The Raven’
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow -- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow -- sorrow for the lost Lenore--
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore--
Questions and Comments
Nameless here for evermore.
1. Write the number of syllables for each line.
a) line 1 __16_ b) line 2 _15_ c) line 3 _16_ d) line 4 _15_ e) line 5 _15_ f) line 6 _7_
2. There are three important rhymes in the second verse. What are the rhyming words for each?
rhyme 1 rhyme 2 rhyme 3
___remember_________ ___morrow__________ ___floor________
____December_________ ___borrow___________ ___Lenore_______
_____ember___________ ___sorrow___________ ___evermore_____
3. What does the last line of the verse mean?
The narrator is not going to mention Lenore’s name again.