Read the following topic sentence: students who read books for fun are more likely to show empathy, or the ability to understand other people's feelings and emotions, to their peers and friends. which of the following sentences supports the topic sentence? a. joining a book club is a fun way to use your brain and make friends who are smart and speak well. b. book clubs are a great way to share your ideas about a book and strike up conversations with strangers. c. reading about the emotions of fictional characters students better relate to the feelings of others. d. statistics show that only 23 percent of eighth-grade students can read books at a high school level.

“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.