Back to Index

Work Sample & Commentary: A Flash of Lightning and Silent Pond
The task
Students participated in a poetry study lasting several weeks, after which they were asked to write their own poems. As part of the unit, the students read and analyzed poetry during workshops that focused on various elements of poetry, such as figurative language, imagery, and form.

Circumstances of performance:
This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:

alone in a group
in class as homework
with teacher feedback with peer feedback
timed opportunity for revision
This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following part of the standards:
b Literature: Produce work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.

What the work shows
b Literature: The student produces work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.

The student chose brief images to reflect upon in these poems. He tried to capture a moment of time in words that evoke the memory of lightning and of a still pond.

“A Flash of Lightning” deals with an image of lightning in each of the five stanzas.

Click to Enlarge
The work demonstrates an understanding of the conventions of poetry by the use of line breaks as punctuation;
the use of repetition to imitate sound;
the play with various rhyme forms such as slant rhyme; and
alliteration.
 

Click to Enlarge
The careful use of language creates quick snapshots of the event. Each stanza begins with a metaphor for lightning—a spark, a bracelet, a flashlight beam, a bolt, and a smile—most of which present lightning as a benevolent entity. The verbs convey a calm, peaceful mood as well as action—“casting,” “flying,” “glides.” The final two lines disrupt the mood and hint at the true nature of the phenomenon, “A frown forever?/No one knows its secret.”

The use of metaphors throughout “Silent Pond” demonstrates an understanding of poetic techniques.

Beginning both stanzas with an image involving shiny metals creates a certain degree of symmetry.
The personification of the puddle as lying on the ground and listening to the wind creates the principal image of the poem. In this poem, brief lines create a series of related images rather than a prolonged thought or story.