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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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