Interpreting

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1		Paraphrase each line of the poem in your own words. How is your version different than the original? What do you gain from this exercise? What disappears? What does this activity tell you about poetry?
2		Take a look at your results from the above exercise. How much re-ordering of words did you do? Look at the way in which cummings has ordered the words. What effect does his syntax produce? Does this exercise help you understand the poem differently?
3		Go through the poem, noting its diction and its tone. What tone characterizes the voice of the speaker? How would the tone differ if "defunct" were replaced by "dead"?