We focus on two poems from Laura Da, "A Mighty Pulverizing Machine" and "Passive Voice." In the first, we discuss how Da uses the language of the General Allotment (Dawes) Act to surface its intentions, hidden as they are by the seemingly objective language of the law. In the second, we move through Da's critique of the passive-voice grammatical construction, and we think through how she connects that idea to the ability of settlers to resist being implicated in historical violence against Native people. Throughout we model how we want to approach the interpretation of poetry in this class and beyond.
