1a. For what does the speaker hunger?
2a. Where is the speaker now? What does he say that this place is unable to do? What has he "honestly" tried to do?
3a. In the last stanza, what does the speaker say he is feeding himself with? What does he ask of "mother earth"?
4a. What is revealed in this poem about the speaker's old home and way of life and his new home and way of life? How do these two places and ways of life differ? Which place is familiar? Which is unfamiliar?
5a. What might someone who loves urban life say to refute the speaker's negative depiction of the city?
1b. What type of hunger does the speaker experience?
2b. How does the speaker feel about the city? How can you tell he feels this way?
3b. Explain why this food is able to help satisfy the speaker's hunger. How does he feel about nature and the earth?
4b. What characteristically Native American values are revealed in this poem?
5b. If you were the speaker in the poem, would you move back home or try to adapt to life in the city? Explain what factors you would weigh in making your decision.
Repetition. What words are repeated in this poem? Why does the poet repeat these words?
Parallelism. What example of parallelism do you find in the final stanza? What idea is emphasized by the parallel structure?
1. Imagine you are the speaker. Write a postcard to a friend in your native land, expressing your feelings about living in New York.
2. Write a dialogue in which you interview the speaker about his spiritual beliefs.
3. Write a poem about something you have been deprived of that you have hungered for. You may choose to write either a free verse or a rhyming poem.
Common and Proper Nouns. Identify each noun from the sentences below as either common or proper.
1. Simon Ortiz, an Acoma Pueblo of the Southwest, writes about New York City in this poem.
2. The Acomas live about seventy miles west of Albuquerque.
3. A small mesa rises three hundred feet in a vast landscape of low brown mountains and cliffs.
4. On top of this mesa sit the irregular adobe houses of Acoma Pueblo, or the Sky City.
5. According to legend, Masaweh, one of the Divine Twins, led the people up the cliffs to their new home.
Hunger and Homelessness. Conduct research online to discover facts about organizations that fight against hunger and homelessness in America. A site you may find helpful is http://www.nationalhomeless.org, the website of the National Coalition for the Homeless. Record your findings in the Research Log below.
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