The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father

Kalia does not begin describing her father as a poet until she is a grown woman. What does it mean to be a poet or an artist? 

Bee lives out many roles in the memoir: son, husband, father, machinist, poet. Which of these roles best defines him?

In Track 2, Bee tells the story of capturing a songbird (38-40), and then tells the story of his first fight with another boy. How are these two stories related? 

In Track 3, Bee tells Chue a story about a bald rooster and a wild chicken, calling it his “first love story” (78). Why does he choose this story to tell Chue?

After Shong dies, Bee and his brothers and sisters can only hope that “on the other side of life there is a place where justice is not delivered in a courtroom but around the hearth of a home” (92). What would justice for Shong look like? 

Compare and contrast Side A of the Book with Side B. What are some parallels between the two sides? What are the differences? What do these similarities and differences tell the reader about Bee and Kalia?

Bee has certain expectations of his children. For example, he expects Dawb to be a lawyer and Kalia to be a doctor, and these expectations strengthen their resolve to succeed and seem to bring them closer to their father. Why do these expectations seemingly have the opposite effect on their brother, Xue?

Xue tells Bee that Bee is “the best man I know how to be” (195) and Bee rejects this claim. What does Xue mean, and why does Bee not want to believe him?