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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. A. a plastic bottle
- Point of view is who tells the story and how much they know.
- The first line says 'I am a bottle', so the bottle is the speaker.
- So the answer is: a plastic bottle
2. A. personification
- Writers choose words for their connotations and effects.
- Being patient is a human quality given to the ocean, which is personification.
- So the answer is: personification
3. D. Turtles can mistake shiny plastic for jellyfish and eat it.
- An inference combines clues in the text with what you know.
- The turtle 'stares at my shine', and the bottle warns it not to eat it, as if it were food.
- So the answer is: Turtles can mistake shiny plastic for jellyfish and eat it.
4. B. Plastic breaks into tiny bits that are hard to see or remove.
- Writers choose words for their connotations and effects.
- Pieces 'too tiny for you' suggests small plastic that people cannot easily see or collect.
- So the answer is: Plastic breaks into tiny bits that are hard to see or remove.
5. A. Litter we throw into the sea stays there and causes harm.
- A theme is the message about life that the story explores.
- The last lines say 'the sea keeps whatever we throw. Don't forget it.'
- So the answer is: Litter we throw into the sea stays there and causes harm.
6. B. rocks
- The words around an unfamiliar word help show its meaning.
- 'rocks' suggests gentle movement, like a cradle; the others suggest rough force.
- So the answer is: rocks