IN YOUR SHOES
EMPATHY
Morgan Harper Nichols
C.3 Answer the following questions
a. How do you feel when you read the poem for the first time?
The poem gave me a feeling of empathy. I felt grounded and kind while reading the poem.
b. My favourite line in the poem is…
Because…
DO BY SELF
c. My choice of an appropriate title for the poem is…
Hold the Door,
because, it gives and impression that a poison is helping another.
d. Find a word in the poem that rhymes with,
i. torn – worn
ii. through – you
e. Identify the opposite of these words from the poem.
i. weakness: strength
ii. most: least
f. Does this poem have a repeating rhyming scheme?
Yes.
C.6 Answer the following questions
a. This
poem is in the form of words spoken by speaker to someone. Who do you think the
speaker is speaking to? Give reasons for your answer.
The speaker is speaking to a
person who has lived a tough life. That person has a story which is very
different from the speaker. He has experienced challenging times in his life
and the speaker feels emphatic about it.
b. What
does the speaker mean by the words under the weight of a story I have never
lived before?
By the words ‘under the
weight of a story I have never lived before’ the speaker means that the person
whom he watches has the burden of the unpleasant circumstances. The speaker has
never lived a life like that person. But he still empathises him.
c. Why do
you think the speaker offers to hold the door for the person being
spoken to? Is the speaker literally holding the door for someone.
The speaker offers to ‘hold
the door for the person being spoken to because she wants to understand the
tough time that person is going through. And for that reason, she puts herself
in the stranger’s shoes.
No, the speaker is not
holding the door literally; the expression is idiomatic. Holding the door means
offering warmth, care and recognition to the person being spoken to.
d. Discuss
why the speaker uses the wors your strength in torn to describe the person
being spoken to?
The speaker uses the words ‘your
strength in torn’, in order to describe the hard life of the individual that has
been tough and brutal. She wants to emphasise with the challenging
circumstances the person has been through and therefore, offers a helping hand
through her empathy.
e. After
all you’ve walked through… What has been referred to using these words?
These lines refer to all the negative emotion, thoughts and emotions, thoughts and challenging times the individual has gone through his or her life.
C.7 Answer the following questions
a. Imagine that the person being addressed in the poem responds to the poem responds to the speaker and they engage in a conversation. Write a dialogue.
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