Assignment

After reading the selection of poems ( below), choose one poem to analyze and answer the following questions.

• Sharon Olds “ The Language of Brag” p. 324
• Billy Collins “Snow Day” pp. 41- 42
• Elizabeth Bishop “One Art” and  "First Draft of One Art" pp. 211- 213
• Kaylin Haught “God Says yes to Me"  p. 130
• Barbara Hamby “Ode to American English” p. 86
• Li-Young Lee “The Hammock” p. 189
• Sylvia Plath “Stillborn” p. 319
• Tony Hoagland “There Is No Word” p. 320
• Pdidy tribute to Biggie Small (YouTube)

Questions

• What is the poem about?   In your own words, summarize the poem.
• What is the theme (the central idea) of this poem? State it in a single sentence.
• What images does the poet use? Share one or two images and tell why they are effective (or not).
• What figures of speech are used (metaphor, simile, figurative language)?  Cite at least one figure of speech and identify it.
• Is the poem successful? Why?