Directions​: Read the following poem and then discuss the analysis questions listed below.

You
are not required to write responses or submit this document--it is merely for learning purposes.
But I expect you to use your astounding intellect and analyze like IB students.

The Gift
By Li Young-Lee

To pull the​ metal splinte​r from ​my palm

my ​father ​recited a story in a low voice.
I watched ​his lovely face​ and not the​ blade.
Before the story ended,​ he’d removed
the​ iron sliver​ I thought I’d die from. 5

I can’t remember the tale,

but hear his voice still, ​a well
of dark water​, a prayer.
And I recall his hands,
two measures​ of tenderness 10
he laid against my face,
the​ flames ​of discipline
he raised above my head.

Had you entered that afternoon

you would have thought you saw a man 15
planting something in a boy’s palm,
a​ silver tea​r, a tiny​ flame.
Had you followed that boy
you would have arrived here,
where I bend over my wife’s right hand. 20

Look how I shave her thumbnail down

so carefully she feels no pain.
Watch as I lift the splinter out.
I was seven when my father
took my hand like this, 25
and I did not hold that shard
between my fingers and think,
Metal ​that will bury me,
christen it Little Assassin​,
Ore ​Going Deep for My Heart. 30
And I did not lift up my wound and cry,
Death visited here!
I did what a child does
when he’s given something to keep.
I kissed my father. 35

Discussion Questions:

1. A good reader is cognizant of his or her own limitations in understanding while analyzing a
text. What are the most difficult aspects of this poem that you encounter as a reader? And
how can you overcome them? ​The piece of the silver shard connecting with the silver tear and
metal that will kill him. Holds a deeper meaning of pain and endurance and understanding of
the pain which may be why the father told him the story of his wife in pain as well?
Comforting.

2. Discuss the primary SYMBOLS in this poem (you should select at least ​four​). What do you
think they symbolize? ​Flame: comfort warmth, Silver tear: lesson, Ore: the blade of death in
an instant, dark water: soothing, Metal; death

3. Remember that all artists draw on their experiences, culture, previously encountered works,
etc. when designing their own work. What primary source is Young-Lee drawing from in this
poem? In other words, what is he making an ALLUSION to and portraying in his own unique
way? ​An allusion to pain and endurance. A story that his father told him about his wife and
how he comforted and was there for her. Not to fear death?

4. There is only one word in the poem that you are probably unfamiliar with...what is it? Look it
up and I guarantee that it will crack this poem wide open for you if you have not yet
determined its meaning. ​This is the power of understanding foreign diction!
christen it Little Assassin​, CHRISTEN MEANS NAME IT!! Under a christian name for when
babtizing Meaning naming the blade the killer. Blade killing him or about to. To not fear the
blade.

5. Last, determine the THEME of the poem. Or at least determine what the author is attempting
to accomplish for his readers. ​To not fear death nor label an item based off your bad
experience, meaning to not to fear and hate the blade but rather learn what it gave you and
find comfort within but obviously learn that it gives you pain and could kill you but you can
control it and not let fear overshadow you. Which is what Lee mentioned in his poem
“discipline”; is the theme. Which is the comfort as well.