At Dusk

Poem by Natasha Trethewey

 • Analyze the effects of poetic diction and syntax to create
mental images.

LEARNING • Research and compare poems set at dawn, dusk, and night
by identifying their descriptive words and phrases.
OBJECTIVE
• Present an oral reading of a poem with appropriate prosody.
S
• Critique classmates’ poetry readings.

• Language Identify words and phrases that create mental

imagery and discuss using the terms diction and syntax.

COMPARE THEMES

Read “At Dusk” to explore how this poem addresses some of the same themes as
the short story “Loser.” As you read, ask yourself what ideas the author expresses
about life or human nature and if those ideas overlap with the ideas in “Loser.”

After you are finished, you will collaborate with a small group on a final project that
involves an analysis of both texts.
QUICK Dusk is the time of day just after the sun has set, when
the light on earth and in the sky grows dimmer.
START People have long associated that time of day with
certain emotions. What feelings and memories do you
have about dusk? What words would you use to
describe this time of day? Discuss with a partner.
 Discuss the mood and emotions that dusk:
ANALYZE • What colors are in the sky at dusk?
DICTION • How do city streets change at that time?

AND • What sights and sounds of nature appear at dusk?

• What activities do you associate with that time of day?
SYNTAX • Does your energy level change at dusk—and, if so, how?
BACKGROUND

Natasha Trethewey (b. 1966) was named

United States Poet Laureate in 2012. Her
role, she says, is “to be the biggest promoter
of poetry; someone who’s really got to do the
work of bringing poetry to the widest
audience possible.” A native of Gulfport,
Mississippi, Trethewey has published several
collections of poetry and is a professor of
English at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Illinois. She has won many honors,
including the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2007
for her book Native Guard.
 Tone: that is, an attitude toward a subject.

mood—the feeling or atmosphere

Important voice—use of language that creates a personality

definitions:
we can “hear.”

Diction is an author’s choice of words.

Syntax is the arrangement of those words into

phrases and sentences.
CREATE
MENTAL
IMAGES
• Poets use imagery, or descriptive words
and phrases that recreate sensory
experiences for the reader. These
descriptions help you make mental
images of what the poet wants you to
visualize. Think of the pictures the words
and phrases paint and ask yourself how
you would experience those scenes using
your senses.

• Review the excerpts from the poem in the

chart on the previous page. As you read
them the first time, you might have
quickly pictured the scene. Now reread
them in the chart below, and think more
specifically: What did you visualize?
Activity
Work in pairs to list the images you visualize as you read
the selected lines from “At Dusk.”

One partner to read aloud slowly from the examples

provided while the other listens, eyes closed, visualizing.
Have the reader pause frequently to ask, “What is the
mental image? What do you see?”
The reader then notes the listener’s response. After
reading several lines, partners may swap roles and
continue.
AGAIN AND AGAIN
• When you see this signpost, you should look for language,
images, or events that appear repeatedly in a text.
• When you notice repetition, you should ask yourself, Why
might the author bring this up again or use this word or
phrase more than once?

• Notice & Note: Mark an example of repeated words.

• Interpret: What is the effect of this repetition?
Why is the neighbor calling out her door?

• A To greet the speaker

• B To ask for her children
• C To call her cat home
• D To ask for help
What does the speaker see in another
neighbor’s yard?

F A light

G A child

H A cat

J A TV
The poem ends with the speaker thinking
about —

• A what the neighbor wants

• B what the cat will do
• C calling someone home
• D how to help the neighbor
Competition Time

1- The speaker talks about the cat not hearing

meanings of our words “nor how they
sometimes fall short” (line 8). What might this
mean?
Question 2

• What might keep the cat from returning

home? What might the image of a
“constellation of fireflies flickering”
represent?
Question 3

• What is the tone of this poem? What words and phrases convey the
tone?
Question 4

• Explain the significance of the title “At Dusk.”

Question 5
• What realization does the speaker come to at the end of the
poem, and how might this Aha Moment affect the
speaker’s actions in the future?
Stanzas 1-2

• Notice & Note: Mark an example

of repeated words.
• Interpret: What is the effect of
this repetition?
ANALYZE DICTION AND

SYNTAX Annotate: Mark the words and Analyze: How does the phrase
phrases the author uses to “luminous possibility” convey
describe the cat’s thoughts. the author’s voice?
CREATE MENTAL IMAG

Annotate: Mark language the poet uses to

help you picture this scene.

Infer: How do you picture the expression of

the speaker at the end of the poem? Why?