Mending Wall

Teaching materials include questions, prompts, and activities that can be used after students read the poem independently or as a group, and as formative or summative assessment tools. The materials can also be utilized in poetry lesson planning and unit design, for class discussion, Entrance and Exit “tickets,” small group seminars, and writing activity ideas. 

Use the writing options in lessons to create opportunities for finding evidence and support in the text, employing critical thinking skills, and practicing test-taking skills. Fulfill requirements for IEP/GIEP learners, early finishers, independent study, varied learning styles, and more.

1. The speaker’s description of the “something” that “doesn’t love a wall” (Line 1) most strongly implies which of the following?

A) Boundaries are destructive.

B) Boundaries are unnatural.

C) Boundaries are healthy.

D) Boundaries are unavoidable.

2. The speaker likens himself and his neighbor to which of the following?

A) apple and pine trees

B) snow and fire

C) elves and giants

D) roads and walls

3. What "darkness” does the speaker suggest his neighbor is “mov[ing] in” (Line 40), beyond the darkness of “the shade of trees” (Line 41)?

A) anger

B) despair

C) ignorance

D) evil

For each of the following questions, write a one-sentence response based on details in the poem.

4. During what season do the speaker and his neighbor repair their shared wall?

5. What saying does the neighbor repeat in the poem?