How does Urrea in the book By the Lake of Sleeping Children inform the reader about something they
know nothing about? How does he startle us with shock value to reach us in new ways
and expand our line of vision into immigrant issues? in other words, even though we
“think” we know about immigrant discrimination, how it’s used for scapegoating and
politics, but what happens to us when we really read about it? How are we confronted
with a new reality? What is the new reality you have on this? Why might people be angry
about how immigrants are viewed in our country? In what ways does he offer hope?

“tell me o swan, your ancient tale” by kabir “the swan” by rilke “spanish dancer” by rilke “your laughter” by pablo neruda “birthplace” by shaffarzadeh “it’s this way” by nazim hikmet “counting small-boned bodies” by robert bly choose two poems that you would like to write about. analyze each poem. study the perspective, or point of view, of the speaker in each of the two poems that you select for this assignment. consider these questions: who is the speaker in each of these poems? what is the speaker’s tone? is there a conflict? is there a message? what does each of the poems have in common? what is different about each of the poems? which literary devices are used in the poems? are these literary devices found in both of the poems? what does the speaker hope to achieve in each of the poems? how are these achievements/goals been met? directions: using the two poems of your choosing, write a clear, concise, two hundred and fifty word essay that compares and contrasts the two poems. make sure you include at least two of the following to support your thesis: tone, point of view, literary devices, and meter.