The Theme of Ancestry in Alexie's Poem "What the Orphan Inherits" and Rose's Poem "Genealogical Research"

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“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people” (Hanh). The defining of a person begins first from their ancestry. The importance of family is vital in every person’s life and the reason for this is because families are the group structure the mostly in every cases tries to be and do the best for each other. Sherman Alexie and Wendy Rose are both poets that have expressed the characteristics of their ancestry and culture in their inspirational and touching poems. Many of them are involved with the critics of personal experiences they have had, and their ideas are portrayed in a meaningful and well structured way. They also describe the way the society views them for being Indians or Indian descendant. To reach a poignant and deep point in the poems, the poets use several literary techniques and imagery in a way that the reader can visualize every description made in the works. Sherman Alexie’s poems and Wendy Rose’s poems such as “What the Orphan Inherits” and “Genealogical Research” describe the aspects that define an Indian. Sherman Alexie’s thematic is usually about the how the Indian society works, whereas Wendy Rose focuses more in personal experiences and her descendants. These two poems have diverse differences and similarities in their treatment of ideas about family.

Both of the poems refer to the vast characteristics of Indians. They demonstrate the facets that make up the Indian culture. Regardless of the different styles of each author, they can both be seen similar because they come from the same ethnic group. The poems tone and mood a...

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...how the distinctiveness of Indians, but Alexie’s main purpose is to show how the Indians are viewed as a society and Wendy Rose describes her ideas about personal experiences in a sensitive, yet evaluative way. Both authors use assorted combinations of imagery that make the poems have a final touch of impact in the reader. As a thought, family is the most important thing a person has in their lives. Family is one of the things that determines a person’s fate and destiny in life.

Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. Selected Poems of Sherman Alexie. Tegucigalpa, HN: The American School

of Tegucigalpa, 2009. Print.

"Family quotes." Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 18 Dec.

2009. .

Rose, Wendy. Selected Poems of Wendy Rose. Tegucigalpa, HN: The American School of

Tegucigalpa, 2009. Print.

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