After reading Lee’s and Harjo’s poems, discuss the following:

by

Humanities

Li-Young Lee’s poems

  • “Persimmons” (1614)
  • “Eating Alone” (1616)
  • “The Hour and What is Dead”
  • “This Room and Everything in It” (1617)

Joy Harjo’s poems:

  • “Call it Fear” (1579)
  • “White Bear” (1580)
  • “When the World as We Knew It Ended”

Each poem will take you maximum 2 minutes to finish. After you are done reading, please answer the questions below.

  1. Several of Li’s poems, if not all of them, deal with death. In what ways does he approach death (or loss) differently in each instance? What does this reveal about loss?
  2. Harjo’s “When the World As We Knew it Ended” is a reaction to 9/11 and what followed. Is this a bitter/angry poem? Is it hopeful? How would you characterize these emotions as they work in the poem?
  3. How does the poetry of each writer reflect their cultural identities (Li’s as a Chinese-American Immigrant, Harjo as a Native American?) How much do these distinctions matter as we consider them in the broader framework of “American” literature?