Poetry

Term 1 Poetry Assignment:

“The World is Too Much with Us” by William Wordsworth.

Every term, all ninth graders will complete the same core poetry assessment. The assignment for Term one
has three parts.

Part 1- Recitation. Please memorize the following poem and be prepared to recite it in front of the class.

The World is Too Much with Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Part 2- Writing Prompt. This poem is about materialism and what we sacrifice when we are focused too
much on things rather than values. In three developed paragraphs, discuss an ideal or a value you believe
everyone should live by and a material possession you personally cannot live without. In your final
paragraph, consider whether or not these two things are at odds. This means, can you live by this ideal
while still valuing this material possession?

Support your answer with explanation and details. You may type or write your paragraphs.

Part 3- Outline and Presentation. Now take your written response and turn it into a bulleted outline on a
separate sheet of paper. After you recite your poem, you will use this to give a speech that is (at maximum)
2 minutes long. You may not just read from your outline. You will use the outline to speak to the class.

See the rubric to understand how you will be graded on this presentation.

The date to present is _________________________. We will select names randomly. If you are not
prepared to go on that day (you have not memorized the poem, you did not complete the writing, you did
not make an outline) you will go the following class for half credit.