Read this excerpt from “not a dove, but no longer a hawk.” i remember distinctly the thrill of climbing aboard a u. s. army helicopter in the cool of the morning and taking off across the rice fields with a south vietnamese battalion for a day’s jousting with the vietcong guerillas. there was hope then that the non-communist vietnamese might win their war. i was proud of the young american pilots sitting at the controls in the cockpit and i was grateful for the opportunity to witness this adventure and to report it. we are fighting now, i used to think, and some day we will triumph and this will be a better country. which choice best describes how the author builds conflict in this excerpt? he reflects back and describes his initial optimism of the war. he makes predictions about the possible outcomes of the war. he criticizes the us government for becoming involved in the war. he shares his hopes for the non-communist vietnamese.

“tell me o swan, your ancient tale” by kabir “the swan” by rilke “spanish dancer” by rilke “your laughter” by pablo neruda “birthplace” by shaffarzadeh “it’s this way” by nazim hikmet “counting small-boned bodies” by robert bly choose two poems that you would like to write about. analyze each poem. study the perspective, or point of view, of the speaker in each of the two poems that you select for this assignment. consider these questions: who is the speaker in each of these poems? what is the speaker’s tone? is there a conflict? is there a message? what does each of the poems have in common? what is different about each of the poems? which literary devices are used in the poems? are these literary devices found in both of the poems? what does the speaker hope to achieve in each of the poems? how are these achievements/goals been met? directions: using the two poems of your choosing, write a clear, concise, two hundred and fifty word essay that compares and contrasts the two poems. make sure you include at least two of the following to support your thesis: tone, point of view, literary devices, and meter.