LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Sample Student Final Exam Answers 2002

Question 3: analysis of a poem by a minority author

 Q3.        "small town usa" by E. Miller displays several themes relevant to African Americans as a minority. The first thing that I saw in the poem was Objective 1: voiceless and choiceless. This is denoted by words such as "it doesn't matter" and "tired, but". In the first phrase, the author is suggesting that no matter what, he is still black and with that comes this knowledge of your minority status in America, regardless of your social or economic position. The author is obviously a guest in a hotel and the woman he refers to works there as a maid but he is still able to identify with her "blackness". He refers to the woman and his mother as being "tired, but". Again this suggests the voiceless, choiceless theme in that even though they are tired they continue to work sometimes against difficult odds. This was especially displayed through slavery. This also says something about the gender role of the African American woman. Although the weaker vessel, African American woman often display tremendous strength as the heads of families even when males are present. The poem clearly depicts "The Dream" narrative and its quest for group identity. It also shows resistance of the culture as they attempt to assimilate to the dominant culture. These two objectives are seen in the first few lines when he says, "it's 7 am". He suggests that as an African American, you can't just rise up on your own as an individual as "The American Dream" suggests. It has to be a group effort. This theme is confirmed at the end when he and the woman meet in the hall and he says that "being black is all there is". I also picked up this theme in the title, "small town usa". The title suggests that no matter what your status is in America, your "blackness" will always make you a citizen of "small town usa".

        Miller's style further depicts African American themes of voiceless and choiceless, resistance and "the Dream". The use of lower case letters suggests resistance to the standard rules for writing. They also may represent a "hushed" voice. The "small" letters also coincide with the title of a "small group identity". Finally, the run-on sentences suggest a stream of consciousness that is perhaps present in all African Americans about this subject matter. This style is also seen in the African American poem, "Failure of an Invention" by Safiya Henderson-Holmes. [AP]

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3. “As Life Was Five” by Jimmy Santiago Baca

The poem is a great example of the Mexican American as an ambivalent minority.  The poet points out that he is “dual-faced [and] dual-cultured” showing his mixed heritage and feelings.  He assimilated into the dominant culture with his “good white behavior” – speaking English and behaving like he was supposed to.  But he experienced the pain of being a minority.  He describes an incident when he went with his grandfather into town to get a loan, but they weren’t even given an application because the man thought his grandfather was “stupid… and inferior”.  The boy then says he was “cut… in two torturous pieces” because he was split between his two identities.  He is reminded of the past of his ancestors with the incident of his grandfather and comes to the realization that he will always be a part of the minority culture. 

Another common characteristic of the minority and class experience is the teaching to “behave”.  I learned in my social structure class that lower classes and minority groups tend to stress the importance of good behavior.  In Melvin Kohn’s “Class and Socialization” he found that lower classes valued manners and obedience more while the upper classes or dominant culture valued creativity and breaking out of the mold more.  The boy in the poem speaks a lot about the importance of good behavior and “existing in [his] shell”.  But when his grandfather was insulted by the “outsiders” his “behavior [was] shattered” because he felt the need to resist the dominant culture he was know separated from. [GH]