Siren Song by Margaret Atwood
1) What is the appeal of the siren song? Why is that it works every time"?
2)Based on the way the siren addresses him what can you infer about her audience?
3)The mythical sirens were creatures of mystery. How does Atwood's diction demystify them? Cite specific examples from the text.
4) Describe the tone of the poem. Look carefully at Atwood's use of hyperbole and understatement.
5) What stereotypes of women does Atwood draw upon in this poem?
6) Discuss how Atwood's poem can be read as a response to Homer. How might it be a protest against his depiction of the sirens?
Love is not all by Edna St. Vincent Millay
1) Explain the argument expressed in the first six lines of this sonnet. Why do you think Millya beings her love poem by defining what love is not? Why do you think Millay chose to write this poem as a sonnet?
2) What is the poem's situtation- that is wehre is the speaker in relation to the person she is addresssing? Characterize the relationship of the two based on the information the poem provides.
3) "Love is not all" depends on an extended metaphor. What is it? How does Millay make it seem possible.
4) In lines 9-14 of the sonnet, Millay imagines a series of hypothetical situations. Describe how the speaker's tone shifts in these final lines.
5) What do you make of the tentativeness of the final line. " It well may be, I do not think I would" Why are these words more intriguing than a declaration of "Never!" would be?
6) How does the tone of the poem reflect Millay's attitude toward love? How would you describe this tone?
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