POEM PROJECTBy Alyssa Mecca

Pre AP English 9

THE ABANDONED FARMHOUSE By Ted Kooser

A LOOK INTO TED KOOSER’S LIFE…

• Born 1939 in Iowa

• Ted Kooser depicts a country lifestyle with terseness and directness in his poetry

• Kooser chose to work in the insurance business and write on the side instead of choosing a career of writing

• Kooser was named Poet Laureate of the United States in 2004

Other poems:

• In the Basement of the Goodwill Store

• So This Is Nebraskahttp://www.cwu.edu/kooser-presentation-cancelled

MY POEM

He was a big man, says the size of his shoes

On a pile of broken dishes by the house;

A tall man too, says the length of the bed

In an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man,

5. Says the Bible with a broken back

On the floor below the window, dusty with sun;

But not a man for farming, say the fields

Cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn.

A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall

10. Paper with lilacs and the kitchen shelves

Covered with oilcloth, and they had a child,

Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves

And canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar hole.

And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames.

15. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road

Literary:Personification:• Lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14,

15, 16, 18, 19, 23• Line 1:

• Says the size of his shoes

• Line 3:• Says the length of the

bed• Line 5:

• Says the Bible with a broken back

• Line 7:• Say the fields

• Line 9:• Says the bedroom walls

• Line 12• Say the jars of plum

preserves

MY POEM (CONTINUED)

Something went wrong, says the empty house

In the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields

Say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars

In the cellar say she left in a nervous haste.

20. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard

Like branches after a storm-a rubber cow,

A rusty tractor with a broken plow,

A doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say.

Repetition:Inside lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23• Lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9,

12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23 all have “says the…”

• Lines 16 and 23 both have “something went wrong,”

Simile:Line 21:• “Like branches after

a storm-”

MY POEM (CONTINUED)

Imagery:

• Not very noticeable, but can be used to depict the lifestyle

• Lines 20-23 depict what happened with the child’s toys

• Lines 1-5 tell you that the man was God-fearing and that he was a tall man

• Lines 10-15 depict that the house was decorated because of his wife and that the farmhouse was lonely on the narrow country road

Literary and Poetic Elements

ANALYZING THE POEM…

What type of poem is it?

• The poem is a ballad poem

There is a speaker

He or she is telling the story of how a family fell apart slowly

Main reason for the poem being a ballad poem is:

• No rhyme scheme

Poetic elements?• There isn’t a rhyme

scheme

None of the words on the end of the lines rhyme nor do the words inside of the lines rhyme

Literary elements?

The speaker is a bystander or an observer that’s telling a story about a family who fell apart in their farmhouse and nobody honestly knows what happened to them

THE MEANING OF MY POEM…

What is the meaning of my poem?

A man and his family lived in their home on a farm until something made the family fall apart

It was most likely due to the lack of the husband’s farming skills or that money was scarce

Whatever happened, the wife left and took their child with her leaving the “big man” behind and possibly angered or upset

When the wife left, she left many things behind and all of the good things in the family relationship were nothing but a memory.

Sites used were:

http://www.cwu.edu/kooser-presentation-cancelled

www.poetryoutloud.org