"Hanging Fire"
How old is the speaker in "Hanging Fire," and what physical insecurity does she mention in line 2?
She is 14 years old, and her skin has "betrayed" her (acne/breakouts)
Who is the speaker of "Summer of His Fourteenth Year"?
A mother observing her 14-year-old son grow up and transform
What core visual symbol appears in both poems to represent emotional distance between parents and teens?
The "closed door"
What is the definition of free verse poetry?
Poetry that does not use regular patterns of rhyme or meter, sounding more like natural speech
What was the tone in "Hanging Fire" according to your close read annotations?
Informal
What line or phrase is repeated at the end of every single stanza in "Hanging Fire"?
The refrain: "and momma’s in the bedroom / with the door closed"
What metaphor does Gloria Amescua use to describe how the son cuts his emotional ties to his mother?
"Surliness is his knife / Cutting away the bonds"
How does the meaning of the "closed door" differ between the two poems?
In "Hanging Fire," the mother closes the door (making the teen feel isolated); in "Summer," the teen closes the door (to seek privacy and push the mother away).
What is the literary term for a line or group of lines repeated at regular intervals in a poem?
A refrain
In "Hanging Fire," what repeated fear did we underline that shows the speaker has existential worries about the future?
Her fear that she might die before morning or before graduation
Why did poet Audre Lorde choose to get rid of almost all punctuation in "Hanging Fire"?
To emphasize how overwhelmed the narrator feels as her racing thoughts shift rapidly from topic to topic
Why does the poet use a variety of line lengths throughout "Summer of His Fourteenth Year"?
To portray the changing moods and unpredictable emotional growth of a teenager
How do structural pauses differ between the two poems?
"Summer of His Fourteenth Year" uses dashes to create sudden pauses, whereas "Hanging Fire" leaves out punctuation entirely to force a breathless, rapid pace.
What is the difference between mood and tone in poetry?
Mood is the feeling created for the reader, while Tone is the poet's or speaker's attitude toward the subject
In "Summer of His Fourteenth Year," what two physical clues at the start of the poem reveal the son's sudden growth spurt and contributed to the imagery?
A deep, resonant voice on the phone and size ten shoes
What is the main effect of using short line lengths in "Hanging Fire"?
They illustrate the fleeting, rapid-fire thoughts passing through the speaker’s head each moment.
What sensory imagery in Stanza 4 shows the son creating a protective barrier against his overwhelming feelings?
Wailing guitar music weaving a cocoon while he sits cross-legged in his room
How do the two contrasting points of view work together to give readers a full picture of adolescence?
They show how both teenagers and parents struggle with the difficult transition to adulthood
What figurative language device is used in line 6 of "Summer": "as tensely strung as the tennis racket he grips"?
A simile (comparing his internal tension to a tennis racket using "as")
What does "Hanging Fire" mean as an expression?
To delay or be delayed in taking action or progressing
In lines 24–26, why does the speaker feel she was treated unfairly regarding the Math Team?
Her marks were better than the boy who made the team, but she feels nobody stops to think about her side of it
According to lines 20–24, how does the son view his mother's protective care and daily house rules?
As ties to childhood choking him with nagging chores, cloying protection, and closed doors as he tries to pull away
What overall theme is shared by both "Hanging Fire" and "Summer of His Fourteenth Year"?
Adolescence comes with many emotional challenges and struggles as teenagers grow up and seek independence
What poetic device relates to repeated sounds in consecutive words in a line or stanza? Example "Choking him with nagging chores"
Alliteration
What does the metaphor "Wailing guitars weave a cocoon" mean in "Summer?"
Music protects the teenage boy from confronting his feelings.