Theme and Message
What is theme in poetry?
A message or a lesson about life expressed through a poem.
What is tone?
The speaker’s or poet’s attitude toward the subject.
What is connotation?
The feeling or association a word suggests beyond its dictionary meaning.
What is a stanza?
A group of lines in a poem.
Why does Icarus begin his fligh?
To escape.
What does Icarus value when he first begins flying?
Freedom and the excitement of flight.
What tone is suggested by the words “freedom” and “liberty”?
Hopeful
Does “uplifting” usually have a positive or negative connotation?
Positive
What does a question mark within a line encourage the reader to do?
Pause and consider the question.
What happens to Icarus’s wings when he flies too high?
The sun melts the wax holding them together.
What can Icarus’s experience teach about taking risks?
Risks can bring rewards but also serious consequences.
What tone does the poet’s questioning and reasoning create?
Thoughtful or reflective.
Does “disintegrating” usually have a positive or negative connotation?
Negative
What is alliteration?
The repetition of beginning consonant sounds in nearby words.
What event follows the melting of Icarus’s wings?
He falls downward.
How can freedom be both exciting and dangerous in this poem?
Icarus enjoys flying freely, but flying too high causes his wings to melt.
How does the opening question “What else could the boy have done?” influence readers?
It encourages sympathy for Icarus.
What does “confines” suggest about a person’s freedom?
Restriction, limitation, or being trapped.
Is this not an amazing review game?
Yes.
Why might Icarus continue flying upward despite the danger?
He is excited by his freedom and wants to test its limits.
Explain how Icarus gains knowledge through his mistake.
His flight and fall teach him about limits and the costs of freedom.
How can a poem sound hopeful about flight but serious about its outcome?
The tone can shift as the subject moves from freedom to its consequences.
Why does “plunge” sound more alarming than “move downward”?
“Plunge” suggests a sudden, forceful, uncontrolled fall and carries a negative connotation.
How can a sentence continuing from one stanza into the next support the poem’s meaning?
It keeps the poem moving and can suggest the continuing motion of Icarus’s fall.
Put these events in order: fall, escape, rising flight, melting wings.
Escape → rising flight → melting wings → fall.