Comparing Human Family And Barack Obama's Speech

In the poem Human Family and Barack Obama’s speech about race both share a similar theme. That theme is that we are all different, but we are still equal. Both texts express this theme in different ways, but are still founded in alike thinking.

In the poem Human Family, the author uses rhyming to emphasize certain words in her poem. For example, in stanza 7 it says, “We love and lose in China, we weep on England’s moors, and laugh and moan in Guinea, and thrive on Spanish shores.” This rhyming the author uses puts emphasis on the countries she names and shows the reader that we all do the same things all around the world which shows the theme of both texts. Also, the rhyming shows how the theme is expressed differently but is still in alike thinking to Barack Obama’s speech.

In Barack Obama’s speech on race, he says, “ I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and hue, scattered

At the end of the poem it says, “ I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike my friends, than we are unalike” This use of repetition expresses the theme of the poem and puts emphasis on that single phrase so the reader walks away from the poem with that phrase in their head. This use of repetition also shows how the theme is expressed differently from the other text. Also, in Barack Obama’s speech about race he says, “But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.” This quote shows similar thinking to the previous quote from Human Family. But still expresses the theme differently than the poem. It expresses the theme by saying that a nation is not the sum of its many people, but rather the rallying of the people around a common