9486 in the collection  

Who's the Skunk?

Ohanian Comment: When Naomi Shihab Nye allowed her work to be used on the 2004 TAKS, I expressed my dismay. I wonder how kids felt. Since then, she has allowed "Every Cat had a Story" to be used on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments II for Grade 5 and "Morning GLory" to be used on the New York State Regents 2005. And I've stopped buying her books.

In 2008, she granted the MCAS item writers permission to use her poem on the state test for Grade 7.

Shame.

I have a lengthy PowerPoint of Authors A to Z who allow their works to be used to abuse children. I will start releasing this information.

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System
Release of Spring 2008 Test Items, 7th grade Language Arts

Where do poets find inspiration for writing? Can poetry be written on demand? Read the following poem by Naomi Shihab Nye to see what she says about the mystery of discovering poems. Use information from the poem to answer the questions that follow.

Valentine for Ernest Mann

You can't order a poem like you order a taco.
Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"
and expect it to be handed back to you
on a shiny plate.

5 Still, I like your spirit.
Anyone who says, "Here's my address,
write me a poem," deserves something in reply.
So I'll tell a secret instead:
poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,
10 they are sleeping. They are the shadows
drifting across our ceilings the moment
before we wake up. What we have to do
is live in a way that lets us find them.

Once I knew a man who gave his wife
15 two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn't understand why she was crying.
"I thought they had such beautiful eyes."
And he was serious. He was a serious man
who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
20 just because the world said so. He really
liked those skunks. So, he re-invented them
as valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of skunks for centuries
25 crawled out and curled up at his feet.

Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us
we find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
in your drawer, the person you almost like, but not quite.
And let me know.

—Naomi Shihab Nye

"Valentine for Ernest Mann," by Naomi Shihab Nye. Copyright © 2003 by Naomi Shihab Nye. Used by permission of the author.


●9 As lines 12-13 suggest, how can people find poetry in their everyday lives?
A. by being inspired by what they see around them
B. by surrounding themselves with people who are poets
C. by sleeping longer in order to dream more dreams
D. by refusing to let the shadows distract them


●10 Based on the poem, what can the reader infer about the man who gave his wife two skunks?
A. He did not have enough money to buy his wife a real gift.
B. He thought he was giving her a wonderful gift.
C. He was playing a practical joke on his wife.
D. He cared more for the animals than for his wife.

●11 What is the effect of the figurative language in lines 23-25?
A. It describes the man in the story.
B. It makes the skunks less appealing.
C. It brings the poems to life.
D. It describes what the skunks did.

●12 Which of the following will most likely occur if readers follow the poet's advice in the last stanza?
A. They will begin to change their opinions of skunks.
B. They will look at people and
objects in a different way.
C. They will be more careful about
the friends they choose.
D. They will become experts in
poetry analysis.

—

2008-04-


— Naomi Shihab Nye
MCAS Language Arts Test
2008-04-
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2008/release/g7ela.pdf

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INDEX OF OUTRAGES

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