Grandmother – Extended HOTS Question

1. Throughout the poem, the tone changes. Describe this shift and explain why it happens.

2. Towards the end of the poem, the grandchild realizes that she “would have passed by as if/ what lay between those bedclothes/ was just old life/ and not really [her] grandmother.” Explain what the grandchild means by this comparison.

3. Reading the poem, what may be assumed about family relations in general, and the life of the grandmother in particular?

4. What can you tell about the relationship between the grandmother and the grandchild in the poem? Bridging Questions: