In at least two hundred words, write a summary of the poem “Sestina.” Include at least two images that support your summary.

Answer:

It is a late September evening, and it's drizzling outside. A grandmother and her granddaughter are busy inside preparing a snack and tea. To pass the time as the water heats, they peruse the almanac and joke about its contents. Although the grandmother is laughing, she seems to be worried about something as she tries to hide her emotions.

At this point, both the grandma and the child seem to drift into their own thoughts. The grandmother ponders how her sadness might be linked to the time of year, while the child is captivated by the moisture collecting on the teapot. As the grandma tidies up—replacing the almanac and adding logs to the stove—the child draws a picture of a dwelling and a man "with buttons like tears" to present to her grandma.

The poem wraps up in an imaginative way, with the almanac releasing whimsical moons from its pages into the child's drawing of a flower bed, followed by the phrase "time to plant tears"; the grandma singing to the stove, and the child sketching another quick drawing of a house with crayons.

Answer:

Summary:

Explanation:

A grandmother and her granddaughter are preparing a snack and tea indoors. To pass the time while awaiting the water to boil, they look over the almanac and make jokes about its contents. Although the grandmother is laughing, she seems troubled by something, trying to conceal her tears.

At this moment, both the grandmother and the child appear to retreat into their own thoughts. The grandmother contemplates how her feelings of sorrow may relate to the current season, while the child is distracted by the steam building up on the kettle. As the grandmother organizes—putting the almanac back on its string and adding more wood to the fire—the child sketches a picture of a house and a man "with buttons like tears" for her grandmother to see.

The poem concludes in a rather imaginative fashion, with the almanac dropping fanciful moons from its pages onto the flower bed of the child's drawing, before suggesting "time to plant tears"; the grandmother singing to the stove, while the child creates another doodle of a house with her crayons.