10/14 MEC

Tomorrow, I'd like you to come prepared with some questions of your own about Mary Oliver's poems. To help you, here are a couple of reading prompts to think about as you study the poems:

1) In "In Blackwater Woods," why does Oliver use imagery like "tapers?" In fact, what is a taper? Don't know? Look it up and read the poem again.

2) In the same poem, what does she mean when she says that the trees are turning their own bodies into pillars of light?

3) Same poem: she says that everything she has ever learned leads back to this...What is "this," and how does it relate to the poem as a whole?

4) Same poem: What does she say we have to do in order to be able to live in this world? Why does she say that? Do you agree?

5) In "Wild Geese," what could spark someone to write a poem like this?

6) Wild Geese: Is this a poem of pain? Sorrow? Happiness?


Think about some of these questions as you read, then go back and read the poems again and write down some questions of your own. Are there places where you do not know what is going on? Make a note on the side. Are there spots where the imagery seems exceptionally strong? Underline them. Do the poems make you think of things that are happening in your own life? How so?

Remember that tomorrow is "Funky Sock Day." I promised to bring snacks, but you may have them only if you are bright-eyed and talkative tomorrow. No more midterm blahs--that's the deal we made. ;-)