Does My Speech Match My Race?
Alison Joseph's "On Being Told I Don't Speak Like a Black Person," shows a universal feeling of being different. Initially the poem presents the issue of stereotyping based on race. Those who are different from the rest of society fall under stereotypes such as; being an African American automatically equates to sounding uneducated. Joseph argues that the reason behind saying something is more important than how one sounds saying it.
Joseph's poem brings light to the issue of stereotyping that we still face in todays time. The narrator talks about how her mother was punished by her teachers for having an accent, but was praised by her friends for the way that she sounded pronouncing words. The narrator also
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It is very clear that the narrator is aggravated with the ignorance of some people as they assume she is supposed to sound different than she does because she is black. To emphasize her agitation throughout the poem, the narrator asks rhetorical questions such as; "Was I supposed to sound lazy, dropping syllables here, there, not finishing words but slurring the final letter so that each sentence joined the next, sliding past the listener? Were certain words off limits, too erudite, too scholarly for someone with a natural tan? And Does everyone in your family speak alike?"
The poem is written in the style of free verse. The poet chooses not to separate the poem into stanzas, but only by punctuation. There is no rhyme scheme or individual rhyme present in the poem. The poems structure creates a personal feel for the reader. The reader can personally experience what the narrator is feeling while she experiences stereotyping.
Joseph's poem "On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person" presents the idea that just because one is African American does not mean they should speak a certain way. Speech is powerful, but the message is what's most important no matter the race of the individual from which the message is being
The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly.
The two poems are two extreme sides of the Negro mentality. They do not leave opportunity for other Blacks to move. They are both required complete conformity. The short story was about Blacks weighting their options. It shows that Blacks can think logically about their action.
...orld about the interpretation of “Black English”, but flaws in the execution of her publication could prevent her audience from grasping her claim. Her biggest problem is the pathos that oozes from the paper. Whether it is the use of outside comments or hybrid dialogue, the pathos could block the minds of literary scholars. The ethos that Smitherman tries to achieve through quotations and research does not work when the quotes are pathos-charged and are from irrelevant time period. The support to her claim that “Black English” should remain strictly to Black culture doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is illogical to think that the only solution is to stop correcting for the grammar of “Black English” and still keep it only amongst African Americans. Smitherman’s claim for better treatment of “Black English would be perceived far better without the strong use of pathos.
“There exists this medical term- John Henryism- for people exposed to stresses stemming from racism. They achieve themselves to death trying to dodge the buildup of erasure.”1 People who live with this constant stress have the sense that they need to work extraordinarily harder for their accomplishments to be recognized, and prevent the erasure of their entire life meaning. In the book Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine describes her personal encounters of racism and inequality, and its ceaseless recurrence proves that both ideologies are still thriving today. Whether it be from a stranger, or a close friend, attacks on her person and identity are a repetitive manifestation in her everyday life. Rankine often refers back to the themes
According to African American writer, James Baldwin, language is a “vivid and crucial key to identity” and social acceptance. Black Boy, by Richard Wright, defends Baldwin’s belief. In a selected Black Boy passage, where Richard and his friends converse, the rhetorical techniques, pathos and warrants assist to convey Wright’s own attitude toward the importance of language as a key to identity and social acceptance.
Another example of Hughes’s constant struggles with racism and his inner and thoughtful response to that is clearly seen when he recalls being denied the right to sit at the same table. His point of view identifies that he was not able to sit at the table because he was an African-American. Yet, he remains very optimistic in not letting his misfortune please what is considered the “white-man” in the poem. Langston Hughes’s states,
The interaction between African American and White differed in every aspect especially toward social problems. Social interaction between these two groups was unequal. African American experienced racial discrimination. This struggle can be best described in “Cora Unashamed.” “Cora Unashamed” by Langston Hughes effectively portrays the inequality between African America...
After reading and analyzing this poem, I have observed varying tones throughout the piece. The poem begins by describing what characteristics she has obtained from her mother’s side. She writes, “she left the large white breasts that weigh down/ my body” and “my whiteness a shame.” The tone of these two phrases could be described as ashamed and disappointed. The poem’s tone immediately changes in the second stanza. The author begins talking about her father’s side and how proud she is to learn of her Chickasaw heritage. The poem reads, “From my father I take his brown eyes”, “He was the man/ who sang old chants to me”, and “I learned to kill a snake/ when you’re begging for rain.” When telling about her father’s side, the author’s tone is more compassionate and interested. When the author talks about her grandmother, she uses more detail; however, her tone is much different. I concluded that the grandma was not too fond of the fact that she was half white. It seemed as if she cared a great deal about what her grandmother thought of her. Hogan seemed ashamed of her white background, but was proud of the fact that she had a Chickasaw heritage. The author goes on to conclude the poem with the sentence, “From my family I have learned the secrets/ of never having a home.” The author switched to a contradicting and curious tone, leaving the reader wondering what she meant. Tone is important because it helps connect the reader to the story and allows them to feel what the character or author is
It is true that old days were really hard to live in, especially if the person was dark skin. This poet’s main idea of this poem “ I, too” was that, he wanted to let people know what he, and most of the African American people were going through. He wanted to let people know that color should not define your personality, and people should accept the fact that people with dark skin were humans just like others. People should have accept them and treat them equally and respectfully. Also one of the things I liked in the poem was that, he was using word sing as a expression of a word of talk, he was not really singing but he was saying it
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
The female, adolescent speaker helps the audience realize the prejudice that is present in a “melting-pot” neighborhood in Queens during the year 1983. With the setting placed in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, the poem allows the audience to examine the experience of a young immigrant girl, and the inequality that is present during this time. Julia Alvarez in “Queens, 1963” employs poetic tools such as diction, figurative language, and irony to teach the reader that even though America is a place founded upon people who were strangers to the land, it is now home to immigrants to claim intolerance for other foreigners, despite the roots of America’s founding.
Have you ever wondered how your ethnicity can impact the way you interact with people? What about the conversation you might have with people? Do you have a voice in our society that allows you to speak for yourself or a group of people? In the poem “Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question” by Diane Burns, the author focused on showing the importance poetic devices have through allusions, repetition, and imagery. Through poetic devices, author of “Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question” shows how stereotypes from societies and her ethnicity affects her life. Diane Burns uses three poetic devices to communicate her tone throughout the poem.
The great Marcus Garvey once said, “Free yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!”
If he intended to end his sonnet by saying that it is not possible to be both black and a poet, or not possible for a black poet to "sing," he without question would not have led up to such declarations with precise self-reconcilable examples. Rather, these previous examples notify the reader that the climactic example is still an additional contradiction that is just that: a paradox that is apparent instead of real. The connotation of the term "sing" is also noteworthy. Cullen does raise the struggle of articulating lyric joy or of easily expressing artistic imagination at the segregation of his racial status. However, because of how expansive a term to sing is, instead of suggesting seclusion or segregation, it more readily connotes inclusion, and possibly even transcendence. Cullen recognizes, even emphasizes, the struggle for a black poet in responding to that divine call to sing. However through utilizing the strategic arrangement of precedent, he furthermore states that the black poet can still voice his blackness and communicate his distinguishing racial
Through the decades, there have been different types of social issues that affect many people. “The personal is political” was a popular feminist cry originating from civil rights movements of the 1960s, called attention to daily lives in order to see greater social issues on our society. This quote can relate back to many social issues that still occur till this day that many people are opposed of. One of the major social issues that still exist today, for example, is discrimination against colored people. In Javon Johnson’s poem, “Cuz He’s Black,” he discusses how discrimination affects many people, especially little kids because they are growing up fearing people who are supposed to protect us. Johnson effectively uses similes, dialogue