Try to write a ghazal in strict traditional form. What is the greatest challenge with this style? How does it manipulate the subject of the poem?

Research several traditional ghazals translated into English from their original language(s). Are their subjects similar to one another? Discuss their similarities and differences, specifically addressing the couplets as they stand on their own and how they form the poems as a whole.

In Spires's poem, the speaker's mother says, "We are all daughters in mourning." If a father tells his son, "We are all sons in mourning," is there a difference in connotation? If so, what role does gender play in the message of this poem?

Discuss Spires's use of colors in "Ghazal." What do black, white, and blue have in common? What other colors may have worked as well and why? If no others...