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Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays, 4/e
Judith Stanford, Rivier College


Interpreting

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1

What are the "hook" and "eye" in the first part of "you fit into me"? With what emotions or feelings do you connect with this image in the poem? What are the "hook" and "eye" in the second part of "you fit into me"? What alters the meaning of these words in their second appearance?
2

In "At first I was given centuries," what do you think is the relationship between the speaker and the person she addresses? How do you make sense of the different episodes the speaker describes? Is there any logic to the order in which they appear in the poem?
3

What role does time play in "At first I was given centuries"? What are some of the settings in the poem you can identify? How do you interpret the lack of punctuation at the end of the poem?