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1. Cloudy day (poem) Grade 1o literature

2. Objectives To understand to the figures of speech and to know how to identify them . To be able to paraphrase each stanza . To understand the theme and main idea of the poem.

3. Cloudy day (poem): BY JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA It is windy today. A wall of wind crashes against, windows clunk against, iron frames as wind swings past broken glass and seethes, like a frightened cat in empty spaces of the cellblock . In the exercise yard we sat huddled in our prison jackets, on our haunches against the fence , and the wind carried our words over the fences, while the vigilant guard on the tower held his cap at the sudden gust.

4. I could see the main tower from where I sat, and the wind in my face gave me the feeling I could grasp the tower like a cornstalk, and snap it from its roots of rock . The wind plays it like a flute, this hollow shoot of rock . The brim girded with barbwire With a guard sitting there also, Listening intently to the sounds As clouds cover the sun.

5. I thought of the day I was coming to prison , in the back seat of a police car, hands and ankles chained, the policeman pointed , “ See that big water tank? The big   silver one out there, sticking up? That’s the prison .” And here I am, I cannot believe it. Sometimes it is such a dream, a dream, where I stand up in the face of the wind, like now, it blows at my jacket, and my eyelids flick a little bit, while I stare disbelieving. . . .

6. The third day of spring, and four years later, I can tell you, how a man can endure, how a man Can become so cruel, how he can die or become so cold. I can tell you this, I have seen it every day, every day, and still I am strong enough to love you, love myself and feel good; even as the earth shakes and trembles, and I have not a thing to my name, I feel as if I have everything, everything.

7. Paraphrase Baca wrote a poem called "Cloudy Day" that describes the life of a prison inmate . He says that wind crashes in empty spaces. But wind cannot crash if there is nothing there. The poem has many references of wind throughout the entire poem, these references are put into play so that we can see the harshness the inmates live through in jail. They must live in jail without knowing what's happening around the world or with their family members. This makes them value the small things. At the end of the poem he says "how a man can endure, how a man can become so cruel." This shows us how the harsh prison life can change people. The last part of the poem shares the feelings of inmates after they get out, " still I am strong enough to love you, love myself, and feel good."

8. Paraphrase They have had the happiness taken away from them in prison, yet they still have feelings. The last line is the most important part of the poem. "Even as the earth shakes and trembles, and I have nothing to my name, I feel as if I have everything, everything." Although some people might say that someone who just got out of prison has nothing, but the actual inmates spend countless hours in a cell realizing their mistakes. When they are released they see the world through new eyes. They may not have anything to their name, but they feel as if they have "everything,". Baca wants to show how these people go through many hardships and most of them learn to sincerely appreciate their lives.

9. Answer the following questions: ____ 1. What is the speaker doing in the poem? A waiting in his cell B sitting in the yard outside C dreaming of his life before prison D being driven to the prison ____ 2. The words “wall,” “iron frames,” and “fence” in lines 1–12 emphasize the A fierce wind buffeting the speaker. B speaker’s trait of ignoring what is around him. C unyielding limits of his present life. D extent of the speaker’s depression over his situation.

10. Answer the following questions ____ 3. The connotation of huddled in "we sad huddled in our prison jackets" (line 7) is A uncomfortable. B cozy. C relaxed. D close. ____ 4. Which one of the following does the poet use to convey meaning in "the tower like a cornstalk" (line 16) and "The wind plays it like a flute" (line 18)? A metaphor B irony C end rhyme D simile

11. Answer the following questions: ____ 5. As revealed by lines 30–35, the speaker views his experience of being in jail as A surreal. B shocking. C beneficial. D predestined. ____ 6. What is one reason the poet chose a first-person speaker? A to evoke anger from readers B to emphasize the paradox that even in prison, one can think freely C to make the speaker representative of all prisoners D to distance the speaker of the poem from his own experience

12. Answers: 1-b 2-c 3-a 4-d 5-a 6-b