The document contains 25 questions about various poems by Janet Wong, asking the reader to analyze themes, symbols, and meanings within the poems. Many questions reference specific lines and stanzas from Wong's poems to understand characters' actions, the poet's perspectives on relationships and hardships, and symbolic comparisons between nature and family dynamics. The reader is also prompted to write their own poem describing what type of car they would be.

1. Janet Wong Poems -- Tuesday
1. If you were a car… What would you be?
Why?
If I were a car… I
would be a 1967
Mercedes 190
convertible, because
it’s timeless, classy,
sophisticated, and most
importantly, cool;
hopefully, I possess a
few of those qualities…

2. Janet Wong Poems – ILMN444
2) How much does dad spend on the
truck, at the beginning of the poem?
3) Why does the poet consider the
truck to be a curse? The poet
considers the truck to be a curse
because…
4) Why might this truck be worth it to
dad?

3. ooxxoxo
 5) What is happening in this poem?
Decipher it.
 6) What is the occasion?

4. CRASH
• 7) What is Grandma
doing in the first
stanza? Why?
• 8)What are they
doing when they
each reach over for
one another?
• 9) How do parts 1 & 2
of the poem fit
together?
• 10) What is the poet
saying about the
value of cars, and the
value of money?

5. Crazy
 11)
What
has mom
done?

6. Rainbow Hand
 12)How is
the mother‟s
care of her
child like a
rainbow?

7. Onion
 13)
“…how
she
makes
you cry,
when
you cut
her with
your
words”?
Explain.

8. The Light
 14)
What does
grandmother
mean?

9. • 15) Are your
parents‟
expectations
of you clear to
you? Do they
expect too
much? Explain.

10. • 16) which one
is worse: the
shame, or the
beatings?
• 17) do you get
to understand
the poet better
through this
poem?

11. Restraint
• 18) Why is the poem
titled “Restraint”? Explain.
• 19) How are the people
in the family like trees,
owls, and slugs? (I didn‟t
ask about „hurricane,
because that one is self
explanatory…)
• 20) Given the previous
poem, „Beat‟, how do
these two poems differ
in the way they present
her parents?

12. 21) Janet Wong has a humble
opinion of herself, comparing
herself to a Honda Civic. Think
about the car poem you wrote.
Were you humble, or proud?
Did you compare yourself to a
compact economy car, or a
high-priced sports car? Explain
your thinking.

13. • 22)why do you
think the
witches lose
their power
when the lights
go out?
• 23) Do you
believe that
tomorrow is going
to be an unlucky
day? Why?

14. • 24) “…as she
travels through
your time…”?
What does the
last line in the
first stanza
mean?
• 25) why,
again, does
the poem end
with that same
verse?

15. Your Task:
Go back to #1, and write a
poem about the kind of car
you would be. Be creative.
Have fun. You can collage, cut
out pictures from magazines, or
find images off of Google
Images. Your final drafts should
be typed or done in ink.
The poem can rhyme, or not—
it‟s up to you! About 8 lines,
give or take, but more if you
like!