1. What is the speaker thinking of doing with the motorcycle in the third stanza of "Fifteen"? What does he discover in the fourth stanza?

2. Why do you think Stafford keeps repeating, "I was fifteen"? Would the poem be significantly different if he said sixteen, or twelve?

3. After reading the first 17 lines of "American Hero," what do you think the poem is about? How does the meaning of the poem change after you've read the last 5 lines?

4. Why do you think the poem is titled "American Hero"?

5. Compare and contrast the two poems.