Analysis Of Homage To My Hips By Lucile Clifton

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In all great poetry, poets use many writing techniques to convey their stories. Poets are known for using all different types of tones and languages such as imagery, symbolism, themes and many more to create a path of understanding to the readers. In the poem “Homage to My Hips” by Lucile Clifton, it can be lead to think that the poem may be about Lucile herself or in general any woman with larger hips. Lucile came from the African American decent and was told by her mother to embrace where she came from. In this poem, I believe Lucile uses her background to her advantage to create such a wonderful poem. The speaker in the poem expresses the tone of confidence which shows power in the celebration of women. From the beginning of poem, the tone starts off calm and informative. The speaker explains how her hips are big and how they need space to move around in. “they don't fit into little petty places “these hips are free hips.” (lines 4-6) The speaker still seems as if she is comfortable with herself as she mentions the aspects of having big hips. In just these six lines one can see how the speaker expresses her body and how she is not upset nor angry about it. Instead, she remains calm and …show more content…

these hips are magic hips. I have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top.” (lines 11-15) One can easily understand that the speaker is using a bit of humor when talking about putting a spell on men with her magical hips. She acknowledges that despite how big they may be that they can still turn heads. By the end of this poem you can conclude that after all the speaker had mentioned about her hips, that her tone had gone from firm and confident to semi humorous. Sometimes it is best to soak and laugh at ourselves. After all, laughing makes us healthier. With the speaker stating that she has magical hips, you can tell she owns her self-worth and can joke about it without feeling any type of hurt or resentment about her

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