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.

in a place once known as north america, now known as panem, is a very rich city surrounded by twelve districts. every year because this very rich city, known as the capitol, is so rich and likes to think they control all the districts - which they do - there is something known as the hunger games! this is where two children, one boy and one girl from each district from the ages of twelve to eighteen, have to leave their families and compete in the hunger games, a live event that is aired on tv's all over panem. when katniss everdeen, aged sixteen from district 12, has to volunteer to take the place of her twelve-year-old sister prim after prim's name is called forth to become the 23rd member to compete in the 74th hunger games, she promises to prim that she will win! katniss doesn't believe she's coming out alive - but she's not going down without a fight.

because district 12 is so poor, katniss has been close to death many times from starvation but she's made it through it. but this is a different kind of close to death; this katniss doesn't know if she can survive.

she doesn't want to hurt, or kill anyone but when it comes down to it katniss' instinct is to survive. but when she starts to have confusing feelings about the boy from her district who is also her fellow contender, things get worse, and then she teams up with the girl from district 11 and only one person can survive. but who will it be? will her feelings get the better of her? will she let someone else win so they don't have to die? if katniss is going to win she's going to have to be brutal. she's going to have to kill!

hello,

this starts with

the areas residents asking congress for admission.

this is the first step in the process of admitting a new state,

- i.a -