of branch is twig. What are the diminutives of the following?
a) tree
b) goat
c) pig
d) bird
7. What is the biggest difference between rooks and good children?
Daddy fell into the pond
Alfred Noyes
Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then Daddy fell into the pond!
And everyone’s face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
“Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He’s crawling out of the duckweed!” Click!
Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn’t a thing that didn’t respond
When Daddy fell into the pond!
Vocabulary
grumbled – complained
dismal day – miserable day
duckweed – plants that grow on or just under the surface of the water
daft – silly, foolish
1. Have you ever had an embarrassing experience? What happened?
2. Is it good manners to laugh at adults when they are in an embarrassing situation? Why?
3. The poet makes use of short sentences to create a certain mood. What is the mood in the first line?
4. Why were the children unhappy?
5. How did this incident affect
a) the children in general?
b) Timothy?
6. Who asked for a camera? Why?
7. In stanza 2, line 4 we find an example of imitation of sound. Quote the word and say what it is called.
8. The masculine of duck is drake. What is the masculine/feminine of the following?
The world inside my mirror
Robert D. Hoeft
I wonder what lives in the mirror
Besides that glass echo of me.
There might be forests of ladybugs
By the shore of a crystal sea.
There might be herds of dandelions
That growl with a silver roar
And tiny diamond houses
Each with a see-through door.
There might be mountains of butterflies
Piled mile high in the air
And ranging bands of dinosaurs
With long, white, feathery hair.
There might be giant shimmering bees
With wings of beaten gold
And little snowflakes flaming hot
And fire that’s always cold.
There might be gardens of happiness
Where flowers bloom into smiles
And all the rivers have emerald fish
And ruby crocodiles.
1. How many lines are there in a stanza? What is it called?
2. Name the three different insects and three precious stones that are mentioned in the poem.
3. Look at the collective nouns as they appear in the poem. Provide the correct collective noun for each one.
a) forests of ladybugs
b) herds of dandelions
c) mountains of butterflies
d) bands of dinosaurs
4. What is an echo (line2)?
5. In line 2, stanza 3 the word “mile” is used to describe distance. What is the word we use instead?
6. Can a roar be silver? What do you think the poet means?
7. Why do you think the speaker decided to say that the dandelions (line 5) roar and growl (line 6)?
Vocabulary
echo – the repetition of sound through sound waves
ladybug – a bug of reddish-brown colour and black spots, also known as a ladybird
crystal – clear, transparent mineral
dandelions – plants that bear large bright yellow flowers
Lunar light
Jeanne
