The House on Elm Street

The House on Elm Street

It sat alone.

What happened there is still today unknown.

It is a very mysterious place,

And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,

But at the same time it is bare to the bone.

At night the house seems to be alive,

Lights flicker on and off.

I am often tempted to go to the house,

To just take a look and see what it is really about,

But fear takes over me.

I drive past the house almost every day.

The house seems to be a bit brighter

On this warm summer day in May.

It plays with your mind.

To me I say, it is one of a kind.

Beside the house sits a tree.

It never grows leaves,

Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.

It just sits there, never getting small or ever growing tall,

How could this be?

Rumors are constantly being made,

And each day the house just begins to fade.

What happened inside that house?

I really don't know.

I guess it will always be a mystery.

- Nadia Bush

Read the given lines and answer the questions given below.

1. It sat alone.

What happened there is still today unknown.

It is a very mysterious place,

And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,

But at the same time it is bare to the bone.

a. What does ‘It’ refer to?

Ans: “It” refers to the mysterious house on the elm street.

b. Pick out the line that indicates the size of the house?

Ans: The line that indicates the size of the house is “And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,“

2. I drive past the house almost every day.

The house seems to be a bit brighter.

On this warm summer day in May.

It plays with your mind.

a. To whom does ‘I’ refer to?

Ans: I refers to the poetess, Nadia Bush.

b. Pick out the alliterated words in the 2nd line.

Ans: The alliterated words are – bit and brighter.

3. It never grows leaves,

Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.

It just sits there never getting small or ever growing tall

a. What does ‘it’ refer to?

Ans: It refers to the “Tree” beside the house.

b. In what way the tree is a mystery?

Ans: The tree never grows leaves, not in any season. It neither grows tall or becomes smaller.

4. Rumors are constantly being made,

And each day the house just begins to fade.

What happened inside that house?

a. Does the house remain the same every day?

Ans: No, the house doesn’t remain same every day. It fades by each day.

b. How does the poet consider the house to be a mystery?

Ans: The poet is unaware about what has happened in the house and hence consider it to be a mystery.

5. What happened inside that house?

I really don’t know

I guess it will always be a mystery

a. Does the poet know what happened in the house?

Ans: No. The poet doesn’t know what happened in the house.

b. What is the mystery about the house?

Ans: The mystery about the house is that no one knows about what has happened inside the house.

Read the poem and write the rhyming words and rhyme scheme for the given stanzas.

Stanza 1 

Rhyming Words:

alone - unknown- bone

place - space

Rhyme Scheme:

a a b b c

Stanza 2

Rhyming Words:

day- may

mind - kind

Rhyme Scheme:

a b a c c

Stanza 3

Rhyming Words:

tree - be

fall - tall

Rhyme Scheme:

a b c c a

Identify the poetic lines where the following figures of speech are employed and complete the tabular column.

Synecdoche

Meaning: 

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

e.g. “The Western wave was all a-flame.”

The “Western wave” is a synecdoche as it refers to the sea by the name of one of its parts i.e. wave.

Lines:

On this warm summer day in May.

Here ‘warm summer day” is a synecdoche.

Paradox

Meaning:

A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself.

e.g. To bring peace we must war.

Be cruel to be kind.

Lines:

It just sits there, never getting small or ever growing tall

Lights flicker on and off

Onomatopoeia:

Meaning:

A figure of speech wherein the word imitates the sound associated with the object it refers to.

e.g. Pitter patter, pitter patter Raindrops on my pane.

Lines:

Lights   flicker on and off

Rhetorical Questions

Meaning:

A figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer.

e.g. And what is so rare as a day in June?

Lines:

How could this be?

What happened inside the house?