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Concerns in Harlem Renaissance poetry
African american literature
Modern day racism against african americans
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Outcast is a poem written by Claude McKay that was written to let people know how hard it was to be an African American in the great western world. Claude McKay was a Jamaican- American writer and poet that came to recognition during the Harlem Renaissance for his literary works against the racism that had still existed in America at that time. Outcast is a short poem that speaks to others about what life was like and how hard it was to fit in if you were an African American in a group of whites. This poem tells that he feels trapped in his adopted country and just wants to go back home to the place where he actually felt like he was wanted and cared about. Throughout McKay’s early years in America he struggled greatly to find a way to fit
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
Claude McKay was born on September 15th 1890, in the West Indian island of Jamaica. He was the youngest of eleven children. At the age of ten, he wrote a rhyme of acrostic for an elementary-school gala. He then changed his style and mixed West Indian folk songs with church hymns. At the age of seventeen he met a gentlemen named Walter Jekyll, who encouraged him to write in his native dialect. Jekyll introduced him to a new world of literature. McKay soon left Jamaica and would never return to his homeland.
Nearly everyone has had that dreadful encounter with the last person they want to see in places like the supermarket, dry cleaners, or the movie theaters. What follows are a few awkward moments of strained conversation while one looks for signs of bitter regret in the eyes of his or her ex. Carolyn Krizer’s poem “Bitch” depicts such a meeting. The poem brings the reader to reality of what really goes on deep beyond conversation while seeing an ex. Through the use of personification, diction, and tone Kizer delineates the speaker’s struggle with feelings of animosity, repression, and desire for reconciliation.
In “Useless Boys” the writer, Barry Dempster, creates a strong feeling of disappointment and shame in himself and society as he looks back on his youth to when him and a friend made a promise to each other to “not be like their fathers”. Dempster expresses a sort of disgust for the capitalist society his world seems to be built around, a life where even if you’re doing something you initially enjoyed you end up feeling trapped in it. The poem is a reflective piece, where he thinks back on how he truly believed he would end up happy if he chose a different path than that of his parents. The author uses simple diction and syntax, but it’s evident that each idea has a much deeper meaning, which assisted in setting a reflective/introspective mood.
is only in the comfort of light that the boys have vision to see it
America and the American people have always strived to be the best and to have the best no matter the cost. There are many examples throughout history and even in today’s society that supports this claim. When people first started coming to America and heading west they claimed land that was not theirs to claim. In the process many Native Americans died protecting their sacred ground. Now fast forward to today’s society were Americans dedicate their whole lives to becoming the best and will stop at nothing until they obtain it. Through the short poems of “Dear John Wayne” by Louise Erdrich and “Slam, Dunk, and Hook” by Yusef Komunyakaa it will show that America has always strived to become the best time and time again.
Citizen is a biographical excerpt of events that occurred in Claudia Rankine’s life. Claudia, a woman of color living in America, endured racism of different magnitudes while trying to attain the American dream; a decent education, respectable career and an exceptional home. The compilation of her experiences illustrates how during encounters with friends, colleagues, strangers and members of her own family, race can take a center stage. During the course of the many encounters, Claudia does not defend herself. She coped with the situation the best she could at the time; by not saying anything at all. Towards the end however, she was able to gain her voice and cried out against the injustice of it all. In her writing, Claudia displayed how deep-rooted her pain was. Claudia uses metaphors to illustrate the affliction she endured and how baffled she felt at the apparent racism and the blatant disrespect for her humanity.
Jim Daniels may not write poetry as eloquently as one would expect, but his style matches the subject matter he writes about perfectly. Indeed, it is this unrefined colloquial style, which allows Mr. Daniels to capture the essence of working class Detroit and relay it to the reader. His words may be somewhat coarse and he does not hesitate to use profanity, but one is still able to find beauty in his writing. The same can be said about the working class society, in which Jim Daniels was born and raised.
An outcast is an ideal example of having an identity. Even if they try, they are never truly adapted into society. Sometimes it can be because of an awkward nature or because
EE Cummings was and is still one of the most well-regarded and unique poets of all time. His poems were unusual, but his strange way of writing is what grabbed people’s attention and made him so special. Many incidents in Cummings’ life affected his poetry, his experiences and his personality, which could clearly be observed in the poems he wrote. Cummings became such a well-known poet due to the effect of his life events on his poetry, his peculiar writing style and his strong connection with the topics of love and lust. The struggles and successes of his life developed his poetry in a huge manner.
The mental and physical aspects of the state of consciousness have been explored many times by poets throughout history. It has at times been paired with fire in having different representations that go delve into passion, compulsion, zeal, creativity, and motivation. In a deeper poetic context, a fiery consciousness is one in which there is a spark of awakening that grows to consume everything in comes in contact with. In Adrienne Rich’s poem “Burning Oneself Out,” the thematic context of the poetry explores this idea of a fiery consciousness representing a sense of awakening. The poem draws upon themes of an awakening consciousness, with aspects going into the passing of time, curiosity of the mind,
The poem I focused on was "Lucinda Matlock" by Edgar Lee Masters. The reason I chose this poem to write about was that it stuck out to me not just from how well written it was, but because I know someone who I care for deeply that can relate to this. I am very interested in this poem because elderly people are the most important to our society and losing them is one of the hardest things. This relates to our world today in so many ways because again as I have said losing an elderly family member leaves us all to morn. What we need to understand is that they lived a very fulfilling life and they were ready to go so why become depressed when we can be happy that they are in a better place finally to sleep
"The Jaguar" is about a trip that Hughes made to the zoo. In the poem, he describes the animals in a zoo and their behaviour. It compares the apes, parrots, tiger, lion and a boa constrictor to the jaguar, which is an animal that lives differently to the others in the way that it views its life. The poem begins by describing the apes 'yawning' and 'adoring their fleas', and the fact that they are in the sun adds to the sleepy air. I think this line was deliberately chosen to convey the monotonous lull of everyday life in the zoo and set a drowsy mood. The second line has a rather different tone; it tells of the parrots that 'shriek as if on fire'. Parrots do shrieks, so this is literal, but it gives a connotation of pain or perhaps boredom. Also, they strut themselves like cheap tarts so that visitors of the zoo will feed them, which indicates that they are losing their dignity to food. Line three speaks of the tiger and lion, which are apparently "fatigued with indolence". Once again, suggesting the tone of sleepiness and possibly boredom, and the idleness of the animals. The animals are tired, and in the wild they would probably be more likely to be hunting rather than lazing about in the middle of the day.
Dylan Thomas a roistering, drunken and doomed poet or a revolutionary poet in the 1930’s with many popular poems. Thomas was against any literary group or movement despite this he is generally categorized as a part of the Modernism, Neo-romantic movements. His style played against the strict verse forms of the time his most used theme was the unity of life and the process of life and death and how new life is linked to the previous generations. He saw the advances of biology during his time to be a magical way of producing unity out of the diversity. Thomas also saw men and women trapped in cycles from growth to new life. By analyzing his poems “and death shall have no dominion” and “do not go gently into that good night” it is clear that Dylan Thomas uses poetic devices like imagery, metaphors, and repetition skillfully to convey the theme of death and the evolution of your life as a source of inspiration for his poetry. Looking in depth in his works you start to get a feeling of who the famous poem was and his beliefs about not only life and death but the all the stages in between and his views on the advancing studies in biology.
Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.