1. If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why? 2. Is it necessary to worry? Can you worry too much or too little? 3. List the top five things that you think people worry about the most.
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING 1. What setting do you imagine from Bishop’s description?
2. Did you find the two similes (‘the paper chambers flush and fill with light/ that comes and goes, like hearts’; ‘splattered like an egg of fire’) in this poem helped you to imagine the scene? Explain why/why not.
3. In many of Bishop’s poems there is a moment when a shift occurs. Where do you think this happens in ‘The Armadillo’?
4. Discuss Bishop’s use of verbs in this poem. Refer to the poem in your answer.
5. Do you think the birds and animals mentioned in this poem were worried about such an occurrence as a fire balloon crashing into the cliff? Give reasons for your answer.
6. What point do you think Bishop is making by selecting the two particular animals (the armadillo and the rabbit) that she chooses in this poem?
7. Why, in your opinion, is the last stanza in italics? 8. Explain in your own words what you think the last stanza might mean.
9. Identify one theme from this poem that you discovered, and explain how you discovered it.
10. Compare and contrast ‘The Armadillo’ and ‘The Fish’.
CREATING 1. Write a speech inspired by the saying: ‘Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.’
2. Write an article for your school website advising your fellow students to avoid worrying too much.
3. Write a newspaper article on the events described in ‘The Armadillo’.
