Critics have found that some of the poems collected in Gallagher's Moon Crossing Bridge to be overly sentimental, a negative attribute as they see it. Research the criticism of sentimentality in writing. What does it mean? Find poems in the collection that you think contain this characteristic and compare them to "I Stop Writing the Poem." Which style do you find more appealing? Why?

If you have experienced a great loss, take that experience and write a poem about it. Use a strong but ordinary image in your daily life as a metaphor through which you come to terms with that loss.

Some theorists believe that our common language is dominated by male-oriented vocabulary. Phrases such as "the war on poverty," using a reference to battle, or purely rational expressions that eliminate emotions are defined as male language. Write a speech on...