Jean Toomer Essay Topics

Jean Toomer was an author of many poems. Sometimes his poetry may be difficult to understand, but if a reader can find key words they can interpret some meaning out of it. Toomer was born close to a time period where they may have said words that had different meanings than they do now. He grew up in a time period where society thought that some people should have less respect toward certain people. Toomer organized everything he knew about morality and edited it into his poetry. Jean Toomer’s poems Reapers, November Cotton Flower, and Storm Ending were influenced by his experiences, his cultural background, and the time period in which he lived.

Jean Toomer was influenced by his experiences and circumstances. Jean Toomer was born in Washington, DC, in the year 1894. He was born and raised during a time where slavery was quite popular. Toomer was able to pass as white because he had an interracial bloodline (Poets.org). “Toomer attended both all-white and all-black segregated schools,” and he preferred not to be classified by his race (Poetry Foundation). Toomer was raised by his mother and grandfather in a neighborhood that consisted of mostly African-Americans. He had the chance to observe both the white and black culture freely growing up, as he moved around a lot. He married a white woman, who was a novelist. Toomer went to many colleges, but he never received a degree (Bio.com). In 1923, he decided to write Cane, a collection of short stories and poems. Toomer died March 30, 1967 in Pennsylvania.

Jean Toomer’s poem Reapers has a very profound meaning. It seems that the poem’s setting takes its place in a field. It seems that it is in a field because it talks about mowers which are mostly used in fields or ...

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...ed. In order for flowers to grow they have to be watered, be pollinated, and have oxygen. Wind helps flowers pollinate and the water helps it grow. Instead of Toomer saying all of this in the poem, he paints a vivid picture for all of his readers to see. He says that “thunder blossoms” and it seems that he wants us to understand that nature, in all its destruction, can be beautiful as well.

Jean Toomer has strong descriptive meanings in his poems. He uses figurative language to encourage his readers to hunt for their own meanings and interpretations. Toomer uses both denotative and connotative meanings, especially in his poem Reapers. His constant elaborate diction can change the tone and theme of his poems with just a few words. Jean Toomer’s writing was all influenced by his experiences, the time period in which he grew up, and his cultural background.