1. Compare the portraiture of Randall Jarrell's poem "The Woman at the Washington Zoo," Sylvia Plath's "The Disquieting Muses," or Katherine Anne Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" with James Dickey's female sufferer in "Angina."
2. Characterize the tone and outlook of "The Performance" in light of Dickey's experiences in World War II and the Korean War.
3. Locate evidence of the influence of Ezra Pound on Dickey's rapid-fire imagery in "Night Bird" and "Falling."
4. How does Dickey control the act of falling in "Falling"? Does the rhythm of the poem affect the movement of the action? If so, how?
5. Contrast Dickey's selection of "The Strength of Fields" for Jimmy Carter's inaugural with choices made by Robert Frost and Maya Angelou for similar state occasions.
