Analyzing Poetry: Impressions

Introduce readers to the poem “Impressions” by American poet Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson with this eighth-grade reading comprehension worksheet. As students read the poem’s five stanzas, they’ll explore Dunbar-Nelson’s use of poetic devices, such as alliteration, rhyme, and metaphor, to better understand the poem's meaning. After reading the poem, students will analyze how word choice and conventions affect the tone and theme of the poem and answer multiple-choice and short-response questions to demonstrate their understanding of the text.