Exploring the Text

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  1. What are the connotations of the word hammock? How do these connotations contribute to your understanding of the poem?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What are the connotations of the word hammock? How do these connotations contribute to your understanding of the poem?
  2. Why do you think the poet chose to italicize the words “Dear God” (l. 11) and “Amen” (l. 13)? What does this tell you about the speaker’s attitude toward his subject? How is this choice connected to the poem’s tone?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Why do you think the poet chose to italicize the words “Dear God” (l. 11) and “Amen” (l. 13)? What does this tell you about the speaker’s attitude toward his subject? How is this choice connected to the poem’s tone?
  3. Trace the oppositions Li-Young Lee sets up in “The Hammock.” How do they help develop the extended metaphor of a hammock?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Trace the oppositions Li-Young Lee sets up in “The Hammock.” How do they help develop the extended metaphor of a hammock?
  4. What do you think Lee means by “two unknowns” (l. 16) and “two great rests” (l. 22)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What do you think Lee means by “two unknowns” (l. 16) and “two great rests” (l. 22)?
  5. Examine the structure of this poem by comparing stanzas one and three to stanzas two and four. How does the shape of the poem reflect its title and theme?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Examine the structure of this poem by comparing stanzas one and three to stanzas two and four. How does the shape of the poem reflect its title and theme?