Write a poem on one of the following themes from The House on Mango Street:
- Wanting to change one's life for the better
- Losing your identity / Feeling as if you do not fit in
- Importance and/or the influence of family
Write through your own point-of-view, either as a child or as an adult looking
back on your life
Do not take lines from the poems that we read in class, or that can be found
online.
Give your poem a title, and make sure you use some type of figurative
language in your writing.
Your poem must include the following:
- Must be typed
- At least one metaphor, simile, and personification
- A title, which can count as one of the figurative devices
- 15 + lines
- At least one rhyming couplet and at least one rhetorical question
- Attached to your poem is a typed, detailed description of the figurative
devices that you used in your poem. Do not just point them out. Explain what
they mean, what is being compared, and how they help to strengthen your
poem. Also, point out your rhetorical question and rhyming couplet. You are
only pointing these out, not analyzing them like the simile, metaphor, and
personification.
Create a picture for your poem. Make sure your picture correctly reflects the
tone of your poem.

Read the following scene from trifles. sheriff (chuckling). married to the law. (moves toward the other room.) i just want you to come in here a minute, george. we ought to take a look at these windows. county attorney (scoffingly). oh, windows! sheriff. we’ll be right out, mr. hale. (hale goes outside. the sheriff follows the county attorney into the other room. then mrs. hale rises, hands tight together, looking intensely at mrs. peters, whose eyes take a slow turn, finally meeting mrs. hale’s. a moment mrs. hale holds her, then her own eyes point the way to where the box is concealed. suddenly mrs. peters throws back quilt pieces and tries to put the box in the bag she is wearing. it is too big. she opens box, starts to take the bird out, cannot touch it, goes to pieces, stands there . sound of a knob turning in the other room. mrs. hale snatches the box and puts it in the pocket of her big coat. enter county attorney and sheriff.) county attorney (facetiously). well, henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. she was going to—what is it you call it, ladies! mrs. hale (her hand against her pocket). we call it—knot it, mr. henderson. what changes might a director or screenwriter make to the original version of this scene in order to best emphasize the mood? cut dialogue from the scene to make it a more appropriate length update the setting to appeal to a more modern-day audience omit the actions of the characters to avoid confusion and chaos include the use of lighting, camera angles, and sound effects