Read this poem aloud. How would you describe its rhythm? What ...

[lunatika]

Read this poem aloud. How would you describe its rhythm?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

The poem describes one of the harshest prisons in American history. Whatis surprising about the poems mood? How does the poet achieve that effect?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[jordangronback]

Answer to Question 1

• The rhythm of the poem is strongit might even be called emphaticand fairly upbeat, as indicated by the frequent stresses, the feminine endings in the first and third stanzas, and the second stanzas series of paralleled lines beginning with And.

Answer to Question 2

• The mood is surprisingly light, thanks to the comic effect of the rimes and the short, blunt lines. This is not a grim meditation on organized crime or the penal system, but a snappy, indeed jazzy, comment about a development that the poet seems only mildly to lament.

[lunatika]

Gracias!

[bbburns21]

Wow, this really help