Name _________________________________

Date ___________

The Cold Within Anonymous

Six humans trapped by happenstance
in bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back.
For of the faces around the fire,
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking across the way
Saw not one of his church,
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third man sat in tattered clothes;
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof of human sin -They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

Please write down any notes or important

details about the poem here.

The Cold Within

Summarize the poem

Define the word prejudice.

One example of prejudice from poem

One example of prejudice from poem

Compare the poem to 12 Angry Men

One example of prejudice from poem

Short Response
In Act Three of 12 Angry Men, Juror 10 goes on a rampage about people who live in the slums. Identify how
both the poem and play portray prejudice and the negative effect it has on those involved. Use details from the
passages to back up your argument. Use notes from the poem to help with the comparison.
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Prejudice always has a negative effect on people, and can even have a negative effect
on society as a whole. Although the human race has continued to evolve, prejudice is
still prevalent in todays society. In passage one, The Cold Within, a poem written by
an anonymous author, the narrator tells the story of death as a result of the prejudices
that exist in todays world. For example, six people are trapped in the cold with a dying
fire. None of the people around this fire are willing to put their stick of wood on the
flames because they are prejudice against someone else who is also there. The author
shows racial prejudice when they say, the first woman held hers back for on the faces
around the fire she noticed one was black. Race is not the only way to show prejudice.
Not having the same social status can also cause feelings of prejudice. In the poem,
The third one sat in tattered clothes he gave his coat a hitch, why should his log be put
to use to warm the idle rich? In the end, the negative effect of these prejudice feelings
is that they all die because they let the fire burn out. They literally freeze from the cold
and figuratively freeze from their cold heartedness. Passage two, an excerpt from the
play, 12 Angry Men also shows the negative effects of prejudice. Juror number ten
continues to speak angrily and negatively about people who live in the slums. He says
things like, you know how those people lie, and Look, these people are drinking and
fighting all the time, and if somebody gets killed, so somebody gets killed. Ultimately,
juror number tens prejudice can have a negative effect on the boy on trial. He could be
found guilty of something he didnt do, just because juror number ten doesnt like people
from the slums. No matter what type of prejudice feelings people may have for one
another, there is always a negative result. Both of these passages show how prejudice
has a negative effect on those involved.