Skin Divers by Anne Michaels

1.    What was your favourite/least favourite poem? Why?

2.    Why do you think the book was divided into sections? Do the sections make sense?

3.    How did you feel about the collection overall? Did you like/dislike it? Why?

4.    Did you notice any particularly striking uses of simile/metaphor?

5.    Could you relate to the subject matter of the poems?

6.    Nature and natural themes feature quite strongly in this collection, how did you feel about the language and use of natural imagery? Did you like/dislike it? Was it too much?

7.    Did you notice any particular moods or feelings within the writing?

8.    Did you get much sense of the author or narrator from reading these poems?

9.    Did you notice any recurring themes and ideas within the collection? 

10. How did you feel about the title poem?

11.  In the poem Fontanelles there are quite a few references to different scientists and also to characters from classic literature, did you mind this? Did it exclude you from the text? Did it enhance your reading of it?

12. What did you think of the title poem? Did you like/dislike it? Why do you think it was the title poem?

Glossary:

Werner Karl Heisenberg – one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics. Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 1925. Considerable controversy surrounds his work on atomic research during World War II.

Jacques Lucien Monod – French biologist. One of the founders of molecular biology. Won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965.

Jacques Loeb - German-born American physiologist and biologist.  Loeb was nominated many times for the Nobel Prize but never won. Loeb was able to cause the eggs of sea urchins to begin embryonic development without sperm.

Irène Joliot-Curie – daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie. Along with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.