Part Three. Who's Talking and Why? The Self and Its Subjects. Section B: What's it About? Summary and Analysis

Section B, What's it about? is about the subject matter of poems. Of the nine exercises in this section, two are best for groups. Some of the poems, even though they concentrate on a sense of self, diverge very much from this first image in the final result.

"Who We Were" by Edward Hirsh instructs the student to write about childhood, starting with a very old memory, and then deciding which tense to use. Will it be present, past, future, or some combination? Hirsch quotes the poet Rilke and reminds students that childhood and dreams are inexhaustible sources for poetry.

"Your Mother's Kitchen" by Rita Dove has two sets of instructions...