Discussion Questions for January 30

Discussion Questions: “Poetry” and A Maze Me

Small Group Work

1.     Hintz and Tribunella state that one of the functions of children’s poetry is “to help children explore emotions and ideas” (88). How does A Maze Me engage the following themes? Identify at least one poem that addresses your assigned theme.

a.     Aging, from the perspective of a child

b.     Childhood, from the perspective of an adult

c.     Attraction and romance

d.     Friendship

e.     Self-knowledge and self-worth

f.      Family and home life

g.     Public life (i.e. life outside the home)

h.     War and peace

i.       Nature (including animals)

Class Discussion about A Maze Me

1.     Let’s look at Naomi Shihab Nye’s introduction to A Maze Me. How does Nye define childhood? Adulthood? Do you find the introduction to be didactic?

2.     Hintz and Tribunella state that lyric poems “capture a moment in time,” while narrative poems “tell stories” (109). Do you think the poems in A Maze Me qualify more as lyric poems or narrative ones? What examples stand out?

3.     Hintz and Tribunella also state that the diction (word choice) of a poem impacts its meaning (110). How would you characterize the tone of Nye’s diction? How does this influence the narrative distance between the speaker and the reader?

4.     How does Nye use figurative language “to create powerful images” and “to help the reader see things in a new and startling way” (Hintz and Tribunella 110)? Find specific examples. What makes these so effective?

5.     Overall, do you think the text paints a positive or negative portrait of adulthood?

6.     What role do the illustrations play in the text?

7.     The subtitle of the text is “Poems for Girls.” To what extent do you agree that these are “poems for girls”? What does this reveal about contemporary constructions of gender?

Class Discussion about Children’s Poetry in General

1.     What poetry did you read—or have read to you—as a child? Did you enjoy it? Why or why not?

2.     In what ways can children benefit from nonsense poetry? 

3.     Consider Livingston’s claim that children have a “right” to their “poetic inheritance,” including works that might be considered difficult or inappropriate by adults (Hintz and Tribunella 108). Do you agree or disagree? Why?