Nikki Giovanni's Legacies

253 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of the poem grandma

In the poem “Legacies” by Nikki Giovanni is an example of a free verse and lyric poem. Meaning it expresses strong feeling and does not contain a regular rhyme or rhythm pattern. This poem shared how the grandmother wants to pass down a generational take of making rolls. The grandmother was afraid the making of bread would end there and would no longer continue to be made. Legacy is something wanted to be remembered by or passed down through generational time. In addition to being passed down through time, grandmother wanted what she thought would be best for the rest of the family after she was gone. She was devastated when her granddaughter didn't want to make roll. “i don't want to know how to make no rolls, “ (11). Bonding together and

Show More
Related

  • Adam Robinson Acquires Grandparents And A Little Sister Analysis

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story “Adam Robinson Acquires Grandparents and a Little Sister” by Edward P. Jones, published in his collection of short stories All Aunt Hagar’s Children, tells the story of Noah and Maggie Robinson as they take their grandson out of foster care. The story could be said to primarily be about the importance of family bonds, and about establishing and reestablishing them, but it also is very strongly focused on the difficulty in handling and rebuilding a family for grandparents who must take responsibility for their grown children’s children. This very severely stresses Noah and Maggie in ways that impact their expectations about how they would be leading their lives at this phase of their marriage, after having completed their own child rearing and finally reaching a stage where they could focus on their own plans. They now see themselves having to deal with often difficult issues that they had not previously faced while raising their own children. In general, though it seems that grandparents raising their grandchildren in place of the parents is just an un-dramatic variant of the basic function of a family where those parents may sometimes not be available, it can be very stressful on the grandparents, negatively affecting their everyday lives and their enjoyment (Mills, Gomez-Smith and De Leon 194) and upturning life plans (Fitzgerald pp). This is true in spite of the fact that this may ultimately be the far better alternative in this situation (Koh, Rolock and Cross). While having the grandparents raise the children is the better alternative to neglect, abuse or an unstable situation, it is potentially complicated, however, by the behavioral and emotional problems that can often affect children who have been through the ...

    Read More

  • Small Town with One Road, by Gary Soto

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    C. Connotations:The poem is written in free verse with no rhyme or rhythm to be

    Read More

  • Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, and Paule Marshall

    5114 Words  | 11 Pages

    Therefore we must pull out of ourselves and look at and identify with our lives the living creativity some of our great-grandmothers were not allowed to know. I stress

    Read More

  • Analyzing the Forgetful Grandmother in 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    The grandmother played a good game. She learned from her mistakes and found new approaches to manipulate her targets. Every action she took in the story were to benefit herself. In the end, she stayed true to herself and died trying to manipulate someone for her own survival. She remained manipulative and selfish throughout the story, even under a layer of faked goodwill. She was given a chance to change herself into a round character, but she never took the opportunity. She will never get another chance to prove herself as anything but a flat character now, because she is

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Keeping Close To Home By Gloria Watkins

    261 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Gloria Watkins’s essay “Keeping Close to Home.” Watkins claims that she connects to her family through communications and being open and honest with them. From her family, Watkins learns that she should respect and value the skills and talents that other people might have, not just focus on those that she likes. Watkins’s family has influenced her perspective on life by telling her to remember her own identity, and never forget about her past and history. There are some that thinks we do not carry much of our own family, but I think we do carry a lot of our own family with us whether is good or bad. We would carry traits such as admiration of others, daily habits, and being respectful to others.

    Read More

  • "A Good Man Is Hard To Find:" Religious Negligence

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    The grandmother has a crafty mind when it comes to getting her way. She manipulates everyone, mainly her family to get what she wants. She does this because in her time period it is what was req...

    Read More

  • My Grandmother Ruthie Character Analysis

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    After five years of being raised and living with their grandmother whom they truly loved, the girls had a rude awakening. Their grandmother, Sylvia had passed away. “When after almost five years, my grandmother one winter morning eschewed awakening, Lily and Nona were fetched from Spokane and took up housekeeping in Fingerbone, just as my grandmother had wished” (Robinson 29). This was the final attempt that their grandmother had made in order for the girls to have a normal and traditional life. This is a solid example of how the sister’s lives are shaped by their family and their surroundings. Lucille’s ultimate concern in life is to conform to society and live a traditional life. She wishes to have a normal family and is sorrowful for all of the losses that she has experienced such as her mother’s and grandmother’s deaths. On the other hand, Ruthie, after spending more time with her future guardian, Aunt Sylvie, becomes quite the transient like her.

    Read More

  • Corrupted Grandma

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    The grandmother shows throughout the short story that she is concerned for herself only. From the beginning, when she tries to make the family go up to Tennessee because she wanted to, until the end when she only stands up for herself against The Misfit. The grandmother, because she considered herself to be a lady, and few others to be good, saw herself above those around her. She saw something special in herself, which was why she insisted to The Misfit that, “You wouldn’t shoot a lady” (14). Even as her son is taken back into the woods to be shot, she remains still. This combined with the authority that she feels comes with her age and position in the family vault her importance far above that of her family that she is with. Her self-elevation, in turn, affects her morals, as she sees the flaws in others but not in herself, and views it as selfish when others get what they want. The grandmother’s narrow-minded egocentric behavior that she exhibits, along with he...

    Read More

  • paper

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ey have surrounded her with. She longs for a deeper connection with her past, but she realizes this is not to be, at least not as far as her family is concerned. She must adhere to the role of the loyal daughter as it has been established through many generations, and strive not to shame the family as her aunt did many years ago.

    Read More

  • The Family Systems Theory And The Family-Development Theory

    964 Words  | 2 Pages

    “individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. Families

    Read More

  • The Rest Of Her Life Analysis

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    In contrast, as seen with Dee Ann’s grandmother’s recollections of Dee Ann’s mother, raising her well from her birth results in a very emotional reaction to her death, crying with Dee Ann’s father on the couch (357). By focusing on the needs of her daughter, Dee Ann’s grandmother became emotionally attached to her mother’s well-being, having a connection to the way in which they have lived their life. Likewise, although their relationship was not healthy, Dee Ann’s mother’s addiction to her father’s actions resulted in a dependency that ultimately held their relationship together: “Her momma lived for these routines, she watched till watching killed her (370).” This dependency stems from her father satisfying her mom’s desire for these captivating acts, creating the emotional ties that held the marriage together, at least for some time. In both of these cases, the dependence on the other in the relationship resulted in a reason to maintain it, as their existence is contingent on the other person. In the case of Dee Ann and Chuckie however, their propensity to go out and enjoy themselves on their own suggests a lack of physical dependency on their spouse, weakening the bonds of need by satisfying a desire for company through other means. Chuckie for example, satisfies this desire by going out with friends for a drink, and Dee Ann immerses herself in digital entertainment such as TV or music (362). Their independence results in lacking the emotional attachment necessary to hold their relationship together, destroying the reciprocated love present in healthy

    Read More

  • Human Nature In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    She only cares for herself and uses her manipulative skills to trick the other characters into doing what she wants. However, she views herself to be of higher moral standings than the other characters. If the grandmother has any lesson for the reader, the lesson is that no matter how tricky one is or how high one holds their standards to be, not everyone gets their way all the

    Read More

  • Theme Of Family In The Grapes Of Wrath

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Great Depression, there was a massive migration from rural areas to more populated areas. During this era the Joad family decided to migrate from Oklahoma to California in search of work. As the Joad family traveled to California, the Grandfather dies. During this rough time, Ma helps comfort Grandma over her husband’s death. Ma knew that if Grandma was understanding and accepting of Grandpa’s death, the family would use that courage and her example to get through the mourning period faster. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she has practiced denying them in herself. And since, when a joyful thing happened, they looked to see whether joy was on her, it was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials” ( Steinbeck 48). The mourning period went by quickly because Ma showed strength in herself and in the family.

    Read More

  • Legacies and Heritage

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nikki Giovanni and Linda Hogan both wrote poems in the 1970s about their grandmothers that seem totally different to the unaware reader. In actuality, they are very similar. These two poems, Legacies and Heritage, express the poet’s value of knowledge passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from generation to generation. Even though the poems are composed and read very differently, the underlying message conveyed is the same, and each are valid first-hand accounts of legacies and heritages.

    Read More

  • My Special Place Essay

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have a lot of cousins; therefore I am not the only grandchild for my grandparents. However, I was the only one that was raised by my grandparents. They spent the most of their times on me compared to my other cousins. For example, I slept with my grandma when I was young. Because of my body was weak, and my hands and feet usually cool all night, my grandma always held my hands and feet to make my body warm. She was told me fairy-tales or real stories at night when I was sick, because she wanted me to feel better. When I was little girl, on the family trip, grandpa always carried me, because he didn’t want me to walk too long. Living without the parent, it made me sad but my grandparents given too much love on

    Read More

More about Nikki Giovanni's Legacies

Open Document