Name:_____________________________________ Class: __________________

Lit 7.1 I can recite appropriate poems demonstrating that I can pay attention to how rhyme pattern
and rhythm help me bring out the musicality of a poem.

Lit7.4 I can identify the use of a range of literary devices and comment on their function and effect
within a text.

Now answer the following questions about The Sound Collector by Roger McGough

1. a. Underline the correct answer.

The atmosphere in the first stanza is (funny, mysterious, sad).

b. Quote two lines from the first stanza which bring out this atmosphere.
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2. The persona explains that a stranger called at his house this morning and “Put every sound
into a bag / And carried them away.” Which statement from the one below best explains
what happens?
a. A guest cleans up all the mess in the house.
b. The persona gives away items he does not need.
c. A thief goes to the persona’s house and steals all the sounds.

3. In the third stanza, the poet describes “The crunching of the flakes”. This refers to the
sound of the (snow falling on the ground, footsteps of the stranger, the cereal being
eaten).

4. Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory,
tactile) imagery. This means that he makes use of the descriptions of various (pictures,
sounds, smells, tastes, textures) to help the reader imagine what is being heard.

5. This poem is filled with onomatopoeia. What does this figure of speech mean? Underline
the correct answer.
a. a word that sounds like the noise it describes
b. a description of a sound
c. a sound that is invented by the poet
6. Search the onomatopoeic words found in the poem in the puzzle below.

7. In the
fifth stanza, the poet describes the sound of the raindrops as “drumming”. What effect
does this onomatopoeia have here?
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8. In the fourth stanza, the persona hears the “bubbling of the bathtub”. Notice how besides
the onomatopoeia in the word “bubbling”, there is also a repetition of a sound.
a. What sound is repeated in this line? ____________________________________________

b. What is this figure of speech called? ___________________________________________

c. What effect does it have on the reader?

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9. Why will life never be the same after the stranger called?
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10. BE CREATIVE!
a. Write your own stanza using the same pattern used by Roger McGough.

The _______________________ of the children,

The _______________________ of the door,

The _______________________ of the teachers,

The _______________________ on the floor.