Write a 1 2 page (double-spaced, if typed) response to the poems in your assigned reading.  You may direct your written response in any way you like, but do include your thoughtful observations and suppositions, and at least two questions that would lead to interesting discussion.  Show that you have spent some time considering the poem. 

For your observations:

    What is the poem about?  What is its appeal?  Its mystery?

o    What images or lines or words do you react to?  What aspect of the poem initially drew your attention?

o    What do you notice about the poems style or structure what has the poet emphasized?  What kinds of details has the poet selected?  What does s/he leave out?

    Do you find major shifts or turning points?  Reread carefully, looking for transition moments.  In addition to your first impressions
    Look closely at the beginning and the end:  how does the poem invite your attention and how does it leave you?  What has changed?
    Look for patterns and repetition.  Look for contrast. 
    Identify a statement or image that seems particularly important, and consider the light it might shed on the subject of the poem. 
    What is the authors attitude towards his/her subject?  How is that indicated?