Page 115 - Demo

2035 8. The poem%u2019s last line is %u201cZion or Oklahoma, or some other hell they%u2019ve mapped out for us.%u201d Mart%u00edn EspadaZion is a reference to the biblical concept of a heavenly city and also to an American Indian boarding school in Oklahoma. What comment is Diaz making by suggesting Zion and hell are the same thing? 9. How does the poem address the common stereotypes used to describe and define American Indians? What techniques and images upend and resist those tropes? QUESTIONS Topics for Composing 10. Analysis. Write an essay in which you examine the connotations of the word %u201cangel%u201d as used in the poem. How does Diaz use the word to comment on American and American Indian culture? 11. Research. In a review of Whereas , a poetry collection by Oglala Nation poet Layli Long Soldier, Natalie Diaz noted, %u201cIt is easy to forget that America is an occupied land unless you are familiar with the hundreds of treaties made between the United States government and over 560 federally recognized indigenous tribes across our nation.%u201d Research the history of these treaties and the ways they led to removal and resettlement on reservations. Does the evidence strengthen or weaken Diaz%u2019s claim that the United States is %u201coccupied land%u201d? 12. Creative Writing. Write an abecedarian poem about an issue you are passionate about. Then, write a short paragraph that explains how your poem explores overlooked or frequently misunderstood aspects of that issue. AP Images/Daily Hampshire Gazette/ Kevin Gutting Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World Mart%u00edn Espada Mart%u00edn Espada (b. 1957) is considered a political poet. His father, Frank Espada, was a Puerto Rican documentary photographer and community organizer. Espada was trained as a lawyer and worked as an advocate for tenants in housing cases. He was a winner of the National Book Award for poetry in 2021. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. KEY CONTEXT This poem was composed for the National Children%u2019s Day event %u201cWithin Our Reach,%u201d which was held at the Newtown Congregational Church in June 2013, less than six months after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed six adults and twenty young children. Discussing this poem, Espada explains, %u201cThe %u2018city where children gathered copper shells like beach glass%u2019 is Tirana, Albania, site of the Bell of Peace; the city %u2018where cannons from the armies of the Great War / sank into molten metal%u2019 is Roverto, Italy, site of the Campana dei Caduti (Bell of the Fallen) or Maria Dolens bell. The %u2018town with a flagpole on Main Street%u2019 is, of course, Newtown.%u201d This poem appeared in (and inspired the name of) the collection Bullets into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence (2017), which paired poetry with responses from Americans affected by gun violence. There, Espada%u2019s poem was followed by a response from David and Francine Wheeler, whose six-year-old son Ben was killed at Sandy Hook. KEY CONTEXT This poem was composed for the National Children%u2019s Copyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.