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Open Up - Grade 8 - ELA - Module 3 - Mid Unit 2 Assessment

By Formative Library
Last updated 7 months ago
9 questions
In this assessment, you will answer questions about language, structure, and theme in a new poem, “The Action in the Ghetto of Rohatyn, March 1942.” You will compare the structure and theme of this poem with your anchor text, Maus I.

Directions: Read the poem and answer the questions below
The Action in the Ghetto of Rohatyn, March 1942
by Alexander Kimel—Holocaust Survivor

Do I want to remember?
The peaceful ghetto, before the raid:
Children shaking like leaves in the wind.
Mothers searching for a piece of bread.
Shadows, on swollen legs, moving with fear.
No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, the creation of hell?
The shouts of the Raiders, enjoying the hunt.
Cries of the wounded, begging for life.
Faces of mothers carved with pain.
Hiding Children, dripping with fear.
No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, my fearful return?
Families vanished in the midst of the day.
The mass grave steaming with vapor of blood.
Mothers searching for children in vain.
The pain of the ghetto, cuts like a knife.
No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?
Do I want to remember, the wailing of the night?
The doors kicked ajar, ripped feathers floating the air.
The night scented with snow-melting blood.
While the compassionate moon, is showing the way.
For the faceless shadows, searching for kin.
No, I don’t want to remember, but I cannot forget.
Do I want to remember this world upside down?
Where the departed are blessed with an instant death.
While the living condemned to a short wretched life,
And a long tortuous journey into unnamed place,
Converting Living Souls, into ashes and gas.
No. I Have to Remember and Never Let You Forget.

“The Action in the Ghetto of Rohatyn” © 2005 by Alexander Kimel. Remember.org. Web. Used by permission.

Read the following line from the poem:

“Do I want to remember?”

What is the function of the infinitive to remember? (L.8.1a)

What type of figurative language is the phrase “Children shaking like leaves in the wind”? (L.8.5, L.8.5a, RL.8.4)

What is the author comparing through this figurative language and why? (L.8.5, L.8.5a, RL.8.4)

Which statement best expresses a theme that arises from this poem? (RL.8.2)

What piece of evidence best supports the theme of this poem? (RL.8.1)

How is this theme similar to or different from a theme in Maus I? (RL.8.2)

What element of structure does the author use to develop this theme? (RL.8.5)

How is this structure different from or similar to the structure Art Spiegelman uses in Maus I? (RL.8.5)

How does the structure of this poem contribute to its meaning? (RL.8.5)

Source: Open Up Resouces (Download for free at openupresources.org.)