What is one of the best ways to look for context clues in order to understand the meaning of a passage? Find the root word in a dictionary and then try to figure it out from there.
Find the meaning of a the word in a dictionary.
Infer meaning by reading between the lines and thinking about the connotation of words.
Read the sentence immediately following the sentence that has the word in it.

The greatest gift the sumerians gave the world was the invention of writing. the sumerians were wealthy people. they needed some way to keep track of what they owned. they began drawing pictures. they used a reed as a pen. they drew on soft pieces of clay. the soft clay was then dried in the sun. the tablet became a permanent record. later, the sumerian drawings changed into wedge-shaped symbols. this kind of writing is called cuneiform. by putting symbols together, the sumerians could write entire sentences.

Media project total score: of 100 points during the next several lessons you will create a media project about a place that is important to you, such as the place where you live. your teacher will score your assignment using the media project grading rubric. look at the rubric yourself so that you know how your assignment will be scored. you may create your project using a word processing presentation program or a slide program such as powerpoint®. include a title slide, two or three content slides, and a sources slide that contains the urls of your online sources. save the document to your computer with your name at the end of the filename (e.g., ng_ela 9-10_w_11_ga alice_jones). submit that document to your teacher for grading refer to the media project assignment document and follow the steps to complete the assignment. when you have finished, submit the assignment document to your teacher for grading.

“tell me o swan, your ancient tale” by kabir “the swan” by rilke “spanish dancer” by rilke “your laughter” by pablo neruda “birthplace” by shaffarzadeh “it’s this way” by nazim hikmet “counting small-boned bodies” by robert bly choose two poems that you would like to write about. analyze each poem. study the perspective, or point of view, of the speaker in each of the two poems that you select for this assignment. consider these questions: who is the speaker in each of these poems? what is the speaker’s tone? is there a conflict? is there a message? what does each of the poems have in common? what is different about each of the poems? which literary devices are used in the poems? are these literary devices found in both of the poems? what does the speaker hope to achieve in each of the poems? how are these achievements/goals been met? directions: using the two poems of your choosing, write a clear, concise, two hundred and fifty word essay that compares and contrasts the two poems. make sure you include at least two of the following to support your thesis: tone, point of view, literary devices, and meter.