1. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
1. Read it three times
2. Write down all the words you don’t know, then look up and write the definitions
gleaming – shiny, bright
oblivion – the state of being entirely forgotten
3. Summarize each stanza – tell what is going on (paraphrase or give the short version – do not worry about interpreting / greater meaning)
1. a black snake on the road got hit by a truck and died
2. speaker stopped car and carried snake to bushes
3. description of snake – speaker leaves snake’s body
4. speaker drives away thinking about death
5. under reason burns a brighter fire that says, “Not me!”
6. the brighter fire sent the snake flowing forward
4. Write down words that seem important (underlined/bolded/italicized, repeated
words, words that change the poem’s direction, or words that stand out)
> death > brighter fire > light
5. Fill in the chart with ALL that you can find

2. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
Poem Type:
Imagery:
Symbol:
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
Hyperbole:
Other:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

3. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
Imagery:
Symbol:
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
Hyperbole:
Other:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

4. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
Symbol:
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
Hyperbole:
Other:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

5. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
Hyperbole:
Other:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

6. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
Hyperbole:
Other:
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

7. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
“looped and useless as an old bicycle tire”
“as cool and gleaming as a braided whip”
“as beautiful as a dead brother”
Metaphor:
“It (a brighter fire) is the story of endless good fortune”
“It (a brighter fire) is the light at the center of every cell
Personification:
“It (a brighter fire) says to oblivion, not me!”
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

8. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
“looped and useless as an old bicycle tire”
“as cool and gleaming as a braided whip”
“as beautiful as a dead brother”
Metaphor:
“It (a brighter fire) is the story of endless good fortune”
“It (a brighter fire) is the light at the center of every cell
Personification:
“It (a brighter fire) says to oblivion, not me!”
the snake’s body is empty and lifeless
the snake’s body is beautiful and intricate
The snake is connected/related to the speaker
Something in living things thinks that good will always happen
Something in living things keeps them going day to day
Something in living things makes them think that they will live forever
Alliteration:
Assonance:
Consonance:
Inversion:
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

9. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
“looped and useless as an old bicycle tire”
“as cool and gleaming as a braided whip”
“as beautiful as a dead brother”
Metaphor:
“It (a brighter fire) is the story of endless good fortune”
“It (a brighter fire) is the light at the center of every cell
Personification:
“It (a brighter fire) says to oblivion, not me!”
the snake’s body is empty and lifeless
the snake’s body is beautiful and intricate
The snake is connected/related to the speaker
Something in living things thinks that good will always happen
Something in living things keeps them going day to day
Something in living things makes them think that they will live forever
Alliteration:
“flowing forward”
“lies looped”
Assonance:
“brighter fire”
Consonance:
Inversion:
“death, that is how it happens”
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

10. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
Found everything you can?
Read back through everything you wrote!

11. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
1. Read it three times
2. Write down all the words you don’t know, then look up and write the definitions
gleaming – shiny, bright
oblivion – the state of being entirely forgotten
3. Summarize each stanza – tell what is going on (paraphrase or give the short version – do not worry about interpreting / greater meaning)
1. a black snake on the road got hit by a truck and died
2. speaker stopped car and carried snake to bushes
3. description of snake – speaker leaves snake’s body
4. speaker drives away thinking about death
5. under reason burns a brighter fire that says, “Not me!”
6. the brighter fire sent the snake flowing forward
4. Write down words that seem important (underlined/bolded/italicized, repeated
words, words that change the poem’s direction, or words that stand out)
> death > brighter fire > light
5. Fill in the chart with ALL that you can find

12. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
“looped and useless as an old bicycle tire”
“as cool and gleaming as a braided whip”
“as beautiful as a dead brother”
Metaphor:
“It (a brighter fire) is the story of endless good fortune”
“It (a brighter fire) is the light at the center of every cell
Personification:
“It (a brighter fire) says to oblivion, not me!”
the snake’s body is empty and lifeless
the snake’s body is beautiful and intricate
The snake is connected/related to the speaker
Something in living things thinks that good will always happen
Something in living things keeps them going day to day
Something in living things makes them think that they will live forever
Alliteration:
“flowing forward”
“lies looped”
Assonance:
“brighter fire”
Consonance:
Inversion:
“death, that is how it happens”
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme:
Theme Statement:

13. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
Identify the theme (single word – primary subject) and write a theme statement (complete sentence containing the message of the poem).

14. “The Black Snake” by Mary Oliver
General Devices
Figurative Lang.
Interpretation of f.l.
Sound Devices
Stanzas: six – four lines each
Speaker:
thoughtful and caring, thinks a lot
Poem Type:
lyric – focusses on the thoughts and feelings of the speaker
Imagery:
“the black snake flashed onto the morning road”
Symbol:
snake – represents all living things
Allusion:
Syllable Pattern:
Simile:
“looped and useless as an old bicycle tire”
“as cool and gleaming as a braided whip”
“as beautiful as a dead brother”
Metaphor:
“It (a brighter fire) is the story of endless good fortune”
“It (a brighter fire) is the light at the center of every cell
Personification:
“It (a brighter fire) says to oblivion, not me!”
the snake’s body is empty and lifeless
the snake’s body is beautiful and intricate
The snake is connected/related to the speaker
Something in living things thinks that good will always happen
Something in living things keeps them going day to day
Something in living things makes them think that they will live forever
Alliteration:
“flowing forward”
“lies looped”
Assonance:
“brighter fire”
Consonance:
Inversion:
“death, that is how it happens”
Onomatopoeia:
Repetition:
Rhyme/Rhyme
Scheme:
Theme: death
Theme Statement: Although intelligence allows living things to know they will die, something within forces them to believe that they will live forever.