In analyzing the poetry of Mona Feather, we are confronted with three different yardsticks by which to measure her work. We could consider her poems as the product of a twentieth-century artist in the tradition of James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, and Wallace Stevens. However, to do so would be to ignore a facet that informs every word she writes and that stems from her identity as a woman. Yet, to characterize her solely as a woman poet is to deny her cultural heritage, for Mona Feather is also the first modern poet of stature who is also an American Indian.

Stanley Wilson has argued compellingly that the huge popularity Feather enjoys among the Indian reservation school population of the United States is creating a whole new generation of poetry enthusiasts in an age when the reading of poetry is on the wane. While this is undoubtedly true, Mr. Wilson’s praise gives the impression that Feather’s readership is limited to her own culture—an impression which hints that Mr. Wilson is himself measuring her by only one criterion. Radical feminist writers have long found in Feather’s poetry a sense of self-pride which strikes a chord with their own more political philosophies. Her imagery, which always made use of the early Native American traditions in which the woman had an important role, was seen as the awakened sensibility of a kindred spirit.

Yet for all the “feminist” touches in her writing, it would be a disservice to consign Feather to the ranks of politicized writers, for her message is deeper than that. The despair that characterized twentieth-century modern poets is to be found in Mona Feather’s work as well; she writes of the American Indians of the 1930s confined to ever-shrinking reservations and finds in that a metaphor for all of modern mankind trapped on a shrinking earth of limited resources.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

A) describe the work of Mona Feather
B) compare Feather with Joyce, Eliot, and Stevens
C) show Feather’s roots in her Native American heritage
D) argue that Mona Feather’s work can be looked at in several different ways
E) discuss the women’s movement in America



The passage implies that the author believes Stanley Wilson’s view of Feather is

A) a compelling and complete assessment of her work
B) focused too much on her status as a Native American poet
C) meant to disguise his opinion of Feather as a poet lacking in talent
D) critical of Native American children’s literary judgment
E) based on all major themes and images in her poetry



The author mentions James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, and Wallace Stevens in order to

A) compare the political messages in Feather’s work to those in the work of other authors
B) highlight the radical differences between male and female poets in the twentieth century
C) contrast Feather’s thematic choices with those of her contemporaries
D) enumerate a list of artists whose sensibilities made them Feather’s kindred spirits
E) describe a critical context in which Feather’s work can be analyzed