| Welcome to the Week 7 discussion! This week I’ve asked you to consider the role of diction in poetry. I have some questions about Priscilla Lee’s poem “Family Dinner” (Links to an external site.) to get us started. 1. In the second stanza, Lee writes, “I am scrubbed down/ to skin and bone/ her oldest daughter—/ spineless, a headless snake.” What is the connotation of the word “snake?” How does the word’s connotative meaning relate to the poem? 2. What do you you think the speaker means when she says “I’m useless but dangerous,/ capable of swallowing/ the family whole/ into my pelvis.” Why her pelvis? 3. The fifth to last word in the poem is “forbidden.” Explain the significance of the word in this poem. 4. Do you like the poem? Why or why not? Poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56869/family-dinner * Since I’d like you to focus on participating in the writing workshop this week, you are only required to write one post this week. The week 7 discussion board is worth 50 rather than 100 points. |
