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RICHARD CORY

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EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON

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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: RHYME SCHEME

  • Read “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson.
    • Go to http://bit.ly/3Iq9x2c to access the poem.
  • Answer the following question(s):
    • How does the rhyme scheme create a somewhat calm, even joyous tone? How does that contrast with the ending?
    • How does the rhyme create predictability? What does that suggest about how others see Richard Cory?
    • Find several rhyming pairs (“grace” and “place”) that are thematically linked and shape our view of Cory. What do they emphasize about his image?

CREATIVE WRITING EXTENSIONS

  • Write a series of couplets that all end with the same word.
  • Describe a transformation using strong sensory details, but break the poem into separate, stand-alone stanzas.
  • Create a short poem where a repeated word shifts in meaning each time it appears.