Study Questions

• Dreams: Dreams connote hope, like when we say "hopes and dreams." Do you see hopeful dreaming in this poem? What other connotations of dreams do you find?
• Cages: Dreams, being in the realm of imagination, are supposed to defy boundaries, make possible things that may be impossible in reality. Is it true in this poem that dreams allow us to break free of our various imprisonments, our limitations in terms of place, of thought, of feelings? What kinds of "cages" do you see in the poem? Are rules a kind of cage? What rules are set and what rules are broken in "Dreams of the Animals"?
• Place: How do words and their associative meanings create an environment for each kind of animal described? What does the contrast that often occurs between the denotative and connotative meanings of words add to our understanding of the initial phrase "each / according to its kind"?
• Logic: What does the poem set out to do? Is there a logic to this endeavor? If so, what sense can we get out of this seemingly senseless and irrational description of animals' dreams?
• Humor: Atwood's play with word connotations allows us to identify familiar things in a different perspective. For example, a whole cat becomes a comically and surreally disembodied "huge pink / shape with five claws descending" (l. 5-6). Where else do you see Atwood's humor in the portrayal of various animals' dreams?
  

• Manijeh Mannani, "Margaret Atwood: The Poetry"
  

• Marilyn French, "Book Discussion on Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing," C-SPAN (2002 interview with Atwood; 1 h. 11:43 min.)
  

• A Conversation with Margaret Atwood, WPSU (2015; 26:46 min.)

• Margaret Atwood interviewed at TOC 2011 (8:34 min.)

• Turning Pages: The Life and Literature of Margaret Atwood, dir. Joel Gordon (2007)

• Margaret Atwood (official homepage)
• Margaret E. Atwood (official twitter)
  
• Margaret Atwood, Poetry Foundation
• Margaret Atwood, British Council (biography, critical perspective, bibliography)
• Bibliography, Margaret Atwood Society
• Atwood 75, CBC
  
• Margaret Atwood, "Orwell and Me," The Guardian (2003)
  
• "Margaret Atwood on the Difference between Prose and Poetry," CBC (1968 interview)