OwlSheets
The Bird Above Mercer Street worksheet preview

WorksheetPremium

The Bird Above Mercer Street

Analyze dramatic irony, humor, and suspense in an original poem sequence about a nighttime city window.

Grade 8ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRL.8.6

Buy this worksheet: $1.50

Or unlock every Premium worksheet with Premium

PrintUnlock to print
Answer keyUnlock to see answers
Assign to classUnlock to assign with a class code

What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 13 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 8
Subject
ELA
Question types
Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students identify differences between what readers and characters know in a poem sequence.
  • Students analyze how differences in knowledge create humor and suspense.
  • Students explain how shifts in perspective change the effects of a final revelation.

How to use

Read the sequence in order, tracking what readers, Dena, and Harlan know. Complete the evidence questions before discussing the final written analyses.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RL.8.6

Analyze how gaps between what characters and readers know, such as dramatic irony, create suspense or humor.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

The Bird Above Mercer Street

Analyze how a poem sequence gives readers knowledge its characters do not share.

Read the poem sequence

Each numbered passage unit is one poem in the sequence. Read across the line breaks, noticing when the viewpoint changes.

The Bird Above Mercer Street

1I. Upstairs
Harlan finishes sweeping the ninth-floor office.
He hangs his broad black coat
over a ladder beside the bright window.
One sleeve stretches sideways;
the other catches on a rung.
From the street, the coat and ladder make a bird-shaped shadow.
Harlan studies tomorrow’s work list.
Behind him, the city gathers itself
into squares of gold and charcoal.

2II. Across the Street
Below, Dena opens her sketchbook
while her aunt finishes locking the tailor shop.
A winged shape fills one distant window.
“A heron,” Dena whispers.
“Right in the middle of downtown.”
She draws its upright neck,
its extraordinary patience.
“City birds must be getting used to people.”
Her aunt searches her bag for gloves
and does not look up.

3III. The Small Display
Upstairs, a timer beside the window reads 11:58.
Its label says: BLINDS CLOSE AUTOMATICALLY AT MIDNIGHT.
Harlan puts his work list in a drawer.
He checks the lid on his water bottle.
Downstairs, Dena erases the first uncertain wing.
She cannot see the timer from the pavement.
“Take your time,” her aunt says.
“It seems willing to wait.”

4IV. Before the Minute Turns
Dena sharpens her pencil over a folded receipt.
A taxi carries a stripe of yellow
through the puddle beside her shoes.
Upstairs, the timer changes to 11:59.
She measures the neck with her thumb,
then starts that long line over.
Between each pencil stroke,
the window holds its bright breath.
Her aunt slips on one glove,
then slowly finds the other.

5V. The Window Answers
Harlan lifts the coat from the ladder.
The heron folds into a sleeve.
Dena’s pencil stops above the page.
A man pushes his arms into her magnificent bird.
For a moment she feels foolish,
as if the whole avenue has caught her
believing something impossible.
Then Harlan turns toward the glass.
She raises the sketchbook.
He sees the drawing and grins.

6VI. After Midnight
The blind descends between them.
Dena laughs into her scarf.
“Will you fix it?” her aunt asks.
Dena looks at the bird
that nobody upstairs intended.
She leaves its wings alone
and writes a tiny ladder beneath its feet.
Across the street, the dark window
gives nothing else away.

1.
After poem II, which statement accurately describes the difference between Dena’s knowledge and readers’ knowledge?
  • A. Dena believes she sees a bird, while readers know what forms it.
  • B. Dena recognizes a ladder, while readers mistake it for a bird.
  • C. Dena knows who owns the coat, while readers know only its shape.
  • D. Dena expects the blind to close, while readers expect it to stay open.
2.
Underline the sentence from poem I that explicitly identifies what creates the bird shape readers understand and Dena misidentifies.

Harlan finishes sweeping the ninth-floor office.He hangs his broad black coat over a ladder beside the bright window.One sleeve stretches sideways; the other catches on a rung.From the street, the coat and ladder make a bird-shaped shadow.Harlan studies tomorrow’s work list.

The preview shows the first questions. Unlock the worksheet to see all of it.

Related worksheets