(1) How does Wright characterize the middle class in “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio”? Does he positively or negatively portray this class?
(2) In “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio,” what does the term “grow suicidally beautiful” mean? Is Wright tongue-in-cheek here?
(3) Contrast the underlying philosophy of Wright’s “Small Frogs Killed on the Highway” or “Lightning Bugs Asleep in the Afternoon” to that of Robert Lowell’s “Skunk Hour.”
(4) How does “Old Paddy Beck, my great-uncle” evoke shame? In the poem, what is shameful?
(5) Compare James Wright’s polemics in “Confession to J. Edgar Hoover” to contemporary political commentary in the works of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Joy Harjo, and Allen Ginsberg.
(6) Summarize the delight in imperfection that Wright develops in “With the Shell of a Hermit Crab,” “All the Beautiful Are Blameless,” and “The Ice House.”
