Diction And Imagery In Giovanni's Poem Nikki-Rosa '

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In the poem Nikki-Rosa, Giovanni uses diction and imagery to prove that in spite of her hardships, she is happy through her words and expressions in the poem. In Nikki-Rosa, Giovanni briefs upon the topic about “how happy you were to have your mother” to show that she cares for her mother because maybe in that setting she lives in kids who have their mother around is a blessing (6/ 7). Next, Giovanni indicates how she has “happy birthdays” which means that she looks forward to her birthday and is to her, her favorite day (20). Then, Giovanni writes, she has “very good Christmases” to demonstrate that she has not one, but many good Christmases to symbolize the extent of how much she enjoys Christmas in her household (20). Furthermore …show more content…

The tone Giovanni applies to talk about where she grows up is very laid back and from the language written shows how comfortable she feels with these people. Giovanni writes “folk in Chicago” to demonstrate how the people in Chicago are chill and a bit country and that they are casual with each other (8). Equally important, Giovanni utilizes the word choice bath in the sentence “when you got your bath” to indicate how they couldn’t waste water to take a shower, but have to fill up the tub with a certain amount to save water (7). Toward the end of the poem Giovanni claims “Black love is Black wealth” to express how, to black people the money, fame, or richness isn’t important, but the people you surround yourself with and in Giovanni’s point of view, considered wealthy (22). In the beginning of Nikki-Rosa, Giovanni states “always a drag if you’re black” to oppose that perhaps she wasn’t so happy all the time and that there are tough times to climb over in life (1/ 2). Giovanni could have begun the poem like that to make the times she is happy to the reader and herself not just a fluke, but a highlight in her life and something that she comes to cherish. All in all Giovanni’s poem

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