Where I'm From Poem Template



Freshman Writing Seminar SELF DESCRIPTION Bronx High School of Science

NAME:_______________________________________________ PERIOD:____

DO NOW: Write your autobiography in 8-10 words—avoid unnecessary words (i.e. extra prepositions like “the”). _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AIM:_____________________________________________________________________________________

DIRECTIONS: With your group, reread the following poem out loud together and answer the following questions:

1) Identify (circle) examples of figurative language and what they represent to you.

2) Describe the speaker in the poem based on the clues he/she is giving you.

3) Interpret the poem’s meaning. Write your responses in the space to the right of the poem.

WHERE I’M FROM by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. _____________________________________________

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening, _____________________________________________

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush _____________________________________________

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember _____________________________________________

as if they were my own.

I'm from fudge and eyeglasses, _____________________________________________

          from Imogene and Alafair.

I'm from the know-it-alls _____________________________________________

          and the pass-it-ons,

from Perk up! and Pipe down! _____________________________________________

I'm from He restoreth my soul

          with a cottonball lamb _____________________________________________

          and ten verses I can say myself.

I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch, _____________________________________________

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost _____________________________________________

          to the auger,

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box _____________________________________________

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces _____________________________________________

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments-- _____________________________________________

snapped before I budded --

leaf-fall from the family tree. _____________________________________________

SEE BACK

Last Name, First __________________________________

Where I'm From Poem Template

DIRECTIONS: Write your own ``Where I’m From’’ poem, incorporating your knowledge about your name. Use the template below to get started. Copy the finished product on a separate sheet I will collect tomorrow.

I am from ______________________ (specific ordinary item), from ___________________ (product name) and ________________________________________________.

I am from the ______________________ (home description)… _____________________________ (adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the ______________________ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______________ (plant, flower, natural detail) ________________________________________________________ (connection to self)

I am from _______________________ (family tradition) and _____________________ (family trait),

from ______________________ (name of family member) and __________________ (another family name) and _______________ (family name).

I am from the _________________________ (description of family tendency) and _______________ (another one).

From _________________________ (something you were told as a child) and _____________________ (another).

I am from _______________________________________ (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I'm from __________________________________________ (place of birth and family ancestry), _________________________________________________ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______________________________________________________________ (specific family anecdote about a specific person and detail), the ____________________________________ (another detail, and the ________________________________ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _____________________ (location of family pictures, mementos and archives) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (several more lines indicating their worth).

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