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Message in a Bottle (a poem)

5th grade reading

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Message in a Bottle (a poem)

I am a bottle, empty and light, tossed from a boat on a bright summer night. No note inside me, no secret to tell, just plastic and air and a sea-salty smell. The ocean is patient, the ocean is wide; it rocks me and rolls me from tide to tide. A turtle swims near me and stares at my shine. I am not a jellyfish. Please, don't you dine! I'll drift for a lifetime, I'll drift for a few, I'll crumble to pieces too tiny for you. But somebody somewhere could carry me back, a hand on the beach and a bin in a sack. So here is my message, though no one wrote it: the sea keeps whatever we throw. Don't forget it.

  1. Question 1

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". Who is speaking in this poem?

    • A. a plastic bottle
    • B. a fisherman
    • C. the ocean
    • D. a turtle

  2. Question 2

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". "The ocean is patient" is an example of…

    • A. personification
    • B. a simile
    • C. alliteration
    • D. onomatopoeia

  3. Question 3

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". Why does the bottle say, "I am not a jellyfish. Please, don't you dine!"?

    • A. The bottle wants to be eaten.
    • B. Turtles are afraid of bottles.
    • C. Jellyfish live inside bottles.
    • D. Turtles can mistake shiny plastic for jellyfish and eat it.

  4. Question 4

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". In verse 3, the bottle will "crumble to pieces too tiny for you". What idea does this show?

    • A. The bottle will turn into sand and disappear safely.
    • B. Plastic breaks into tiny bits that are hard to see or remove.
    • C. The bottle will become a jellyfish.
    • D. The bottle will grow bigger.

  5. Question 5

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". What is the main message of the poem?

    • A. Litter we throw into the sea stays there and causes harm.
    • B. Summer nights at sea are beautiful.
    • C. Bottles make good homes for turtles.
    • D. Everyone should send messages in bottles.

  6. Question 6

    Read "Message in a Bottle (a poem)". The bottle says the sea is "patient". Which word has the most POSITIVE feeling for the way the sea treats the bottle?

    • A. hurls
    • B. rocks
    • C. tosses
    • D. batters

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Answer key: Message in a Bottle (a poem)

  1. 1. A. a plastic bottle

  2. 2. A. personification

  3. 3. D. Turtles can mistake shiny plastic for jellyfish and eat it.

  4. 4. B. Plastic breaks into tiny bits that are hard to see or remove.

  5. 5. A. Litter we throw into the sea stays there and causes harm.

  6. 6. B. rocks