“Miss Rosie”

1. “Miss Rosie” By Lucille Clifton First published in Good Times New York: Random House, 1969 Presented by Gretchen Hobbie and Emily Redman

2. Why “Miss Rosie” should be kept • “Miss Rosie” is a unique poem and contains many different poetic devices. • It is important for students to understand a variety of devices used in poetry to expand their knowledge.

3. Rhyme Scheme Free Verse (poetry that does not have a fixed pattern of rhyme and meter.) when I watch you: A in your old man’s shoes: B with the little toe cut out: C sitting, waiting for your mind: D like next week’s grocery: E

4. Rhythm Scansion (analyzing a poem’s meter of verse.) when I watch you dimeter you wet brown bag of a woman tetrameter Written in iambic and trochaic feet.

5. Sound Devices Parallelism(words, phrases, or sentences that have a similar grammatical form) *when I watch you in your old man’s shoes with the little toe cut out sitting, waiting for your mind like next week’s grocery I say *when I watch you

6. Sound Devices Alliteration(the repetition of sounds) sitting, surrounded by thesmell Assonance(the repetition of similar or same vowel sounds with different consonant sounds) of too old potato peels

7. Figurative Language Simile (a comparison between unlike things using the words like or as) In lines one and two the author is comparing the woman to garbage. when I watch you wrapped up like garbage

8. Other Poetic Devices Imagery (words writers use to help create a picture) All of these examples of imagery appeal to a reader’s sight wrapped up like garbage; of too old potato peels; in your old man’s shoes with the little toe cut out; you wet brown bag of a woman

9. Other Poetic Devices Motif (a significant phrase or idea that repeats throughout a literary work) This motif suggests the author knew the woman previously. -when I watch you- wrapped up like garbage sitting, surrounded by the smell of too old potato peels or -when I watch you- in your old man’s shoes

10. Conclusion • “Miss Rosie” should be kept because it is an excellent learning instrument, especially for 10th grade level students. • This poem contains: parallelism consonance assonance simile imagery motif