Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.

“apostrophe to man”
by edna st. vincent millay

(on reflecting that the world
is ready to go to war again)

detestable race, continue to expunge yourself, die out.
breed faster, crowd, encroach, sing hymns, build bombing airplanes;
make speeches, unveil statues, issue bonds, parade;
convert again into explosives the bewildered ammonia
and the distracted cellulose;
convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies
the hopeful bodies of the young; exhort,
pray, pull long faces, be earnest,
be all but overcome, be photographed;
confer, perfect your formulae, commercialize
bacteria harmful to human tissue,
put death on the market;
breed, crowd, encroach,
expand, expunge yourself, die out,
homo called sapiens.

source: millay, edna st. vincent. “apostrophe to man.” american poems. gunnar bengtsson, n. d. web. 7 june 2011.

discuss how word choice affects the mood of this poem.

Sample Response: Millay uses words with strongly negative connotations in this bitter poem about humanity’s inhumanity. The first word of the poem is “detestable,” and the powerful negative imagery continues throughout the poem. She uses the word “breed” which generally applies to animals, not humans, reinforcing our bestiality. A few of the other negative word choices include “encroach,” “bombing,” “bewildered,” and “distracted.” Perhaps the strongest imagery is found in the lines, “Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies/The hopeful bodies of the young.” She ends with the name of our species, Homo sapiens, but splits the term ironically pointing out that we are called sapiens while her poem makes the point of showing that while we may be human (Homo), we are not wise (sapiens)at all.

it's called a epic poem i believe, hope this ☺

- "d.)  describe the iroquois belief of how the earth was created. for the iroquois, there was no reason to explain the importance of rituals. also, as animists, they didn't need a special elaboration as to why animals are important or why they had a crucial role in the earth's creation. this is just an authentic myth that explains the creation of the earth. every culture has produced creation myths."