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THE HARBOR

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CARL SANDBURG

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INSTRUCTIONAL

NOTE

Feel free to modify, add, or select specific questions from this bellringer to best fit your instructional goals and available time. Adjust as needed to align with your lesson focus or classroom pacing.

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Also, some of the materials in these bellringers contain sensitive subject matter and/or language. Please preview the resources beforehand and make any alterations as needed.

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BELLRINGER FOCUS: SOUND DEVICES

  • Read “The Harbor” by Carl Sandburg.
    • Go to http://bit.ly/44vTetv to access the poem.
  • Answer the following question(s):
    • Find examples of alliteration in the poem. How do these repeated sounds affect the mood or pacing in different sections?
    • Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words. How does the use of assonance in the first half of the poem compare to the second, and what does this reveal about the shift in tone or setting?
    • Identify a line where sound contributes to imagery. How does that sound device help develop the scene more vividly?

CREATIVE WRITING EXTENSIONS

  • Describe a place that changes dramatically from one side to the other.
  • Write a short poem that begins with harsh sounds and ends with softer, calmer ones.
  • Use repetition and sound (like alliteration or assonance) to show a shift in mood.