December 11, 2016

Homework Help: Language Arts

Posted by Eric on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 12:30pm.

Scott’s Good-bye

We saw the months of wicked weather,
As day to painful night did turn,
Waiting, huddled close together
For the frozen sun’s return.

Our nights were almost endless torture.
Our food was gone. Our fuel was low.
We came in search of grand adventure
But ended trembling in the snow.

Each morning’s effort took us southward,
Like moths to flames we sought our goal.
We knew not that far out ahead
Amundsen had reached the Pole.

We found his flag one bitter morning
And knew our hopes had come to woe.
We had come pursuing glory
But ended freezing in the snow.

Hour by hour our strength has left us
But we’ve struggled on for days.
With nothing more than will to guide us
We have tried to reach our base.

The nights are cruel, the wind is heartless,
With its ceaseless whip and moan.
We gave our all; we fought our hardest
But ended dying in the snow.

Scott’s Immortality

Robert Falcon Scott was a British Navy captain who became famous as an explorer of Antarctica. In 1901 he commanded a British ship that sailed farther south than any other ship had before. As a result, he was able to raise money and teams for additional explorations.

In 1910 he set out to be the first to reach the South Pole. However, other explorers had the same goal. When Scott finally arrived at the Pole in January of 1912, he discovered the flag of Norway waiting there—a Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, had beaten Scott to the South Pole by a month.

Caught in blizzards and slowed by illness, Scott and his companions never returned to their camp. They died in March, and their frozen bodies were discovered eight months later.

Scott’s achievements during life and his tragic death brought him much recognition. Many books, poems, songs, and movies were written about him. In 1913 a song titled “In Memoriam of Captain Scott and His Heroic Comrades: ‘Tis a Story That Shall Live Forever” was recorded. Its first verse is as follows:

What a glorious tale again is told
Of heroism grand,
Of British men with British hearts,
Out in the Great White Land,
A band of heroes, brave and true,
See standing, side by side,
Amidst eternal ice and snow,
All faithful ‘til they died.

Two movies were made about him, the first in 1933. It was called 90 Degrees South: With Scott to the Antarctic. Another film, called Scott of the Antarctic, was made in 1948.

Many poems have been written about Scott’s ill-fated journey, but few were written in free verse. If you try writing a free verse poem about Scott, remember a few simple rules. Free verse does not use rhyme. It does not use regular meter or line length, either. However, you must be even more careful about how you use rhythm when writing free verse. Consider using repetition in your free-verse poem.

Multiple Choice

Choose the letter that corresponds to the correct answer.

1. The fourth stanza of the poem offers an example of (1 point)
slant rhyme.
end rhyme.
perfect rhyme.
internal rhyme.
2. Which of the following lines from the poem includes an example of alliteration? (1 point)
Waiting, huddled close together
Our food was gone. Our fuel was low.
Amundsen had reached the Pole.
We had come pursuing glory
3. The passage includes instructions for writing a free verse poem. If you were taking notes on these instructions, which of the following would you have written? (1 point)
Use an abab rhyme scheme.
Do not vary line length.
Do not use imagery.
Use repetition.
4. How do you interpret the line of the poem “And knew our hopes had come to woe”? (1 point)
They were disappointed, because they wanted to reach the Pole first.
They were sad, because Amundsen had died.
They were bored from taking such a long trip.
They realized they would never get home to Great Britain.
5. Which of the following is an example of Scott’s achievements as an explorer? (1 point)
He has been the subject of many poems, songs, and books.
He starred in Scott of the Antarctic.
In 1901 he sailed farther south than anyone else had ever sailed.
His crew froze at the South Pole.
6. Which of the following personal experiences might a student use to connect to the poem and the passage? (1 point)
raising money for exploration
commanding a ship
feeling really cold and tired
reaching the South Pole

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