Grade 9 Poetry Analysis Worksheet: Incident by Natasha Trethewey

Additional Info:

1. Text Type: Poetry

2. Difficulty Level: Difficult 

3. Skill Focus: This worksheet develops students’ ability to analyze poetry, focusing on theme, imagery, tone, point of view, and social context. Students examine how Trethewey uses a child’s perspective, understated language, and structural choices to convey themes of racism, innocence, and lasting emotional impact.

4. Standards & Strands Alignment:

CCSS (Grade 9–10):

• RL.9-10.1 – Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis.

• RL.9-10.2 – Determine a theme or central idea and analyze its development.

• RL.9-10.4 – Analyze the cumulative impact of word choices on meaning and tone.

CEFR:

• B2 Reading: Can interpret poetry and literary texts, including implicit meaning, tone, and attitude.

ACARA (Australian Curriculum – Year 9):

• AC9E9LE03 – Analyse how authors develop themes and perspectives.

• AC9E9LE05 – Analyse how language features and imagery shape meaning.

Cambridge (IGCSE-style skills):

• Analysis of language, form, and structure

• Understanding explicit and implicit meaning

• Personal and critical response supported by textual evidence

The worksheet focuses on poetry analysis and includes questions that guide students from basic understanding to critical interpretation. It begins with comprehension questions that check students’ understanding of the incident described in the poem, the speaker’s point of view, and details that reveal innocence. It then moves to analytical questions that explore theme, imagery, repetition, and the contrast between the child’s perception and the parents’ reaction. The final set of questions requires evaluative thinking, asking students to analyze tone, structural choices, and the poem’s broader social message about racism and its lasting impact, all supported with textual evidence.