LITR 4332: American
Minority Literature
Sample Student
Final Exam Answers 2004
3c. Analyze a Poem by a Minority Writer. Three sample poems are provided below. Analyze one, both thematically and stylistically.
· Thematically, how does the poem exhibit minority themes, particularly those of the minority group represented? (gender and class themes also possible)
· Stylistically, how do these themes benefit from being written as poetry rather than as simple prose?
Sample answers
“Harlem”
by Langston Hughes (1947)
3. C). This poem reflects the African American alternative dream. In the first line, “What happens to a dream deferred,” the poet seems to be talking about the American dream. Although the American dream consists of the freedom to travel to America to seek a better life for oneself, the African American alternative narrative tells a different side to the American dream. The African Americans were forced to America as a means for the dominant culture to prosper, therefore, their dream was “deferred.” They did not have the opportunity to go where they wanted and seek what they wanted.
The rest of the poem seems to address the reaction of African Americans since they were not able to participate in the American dream. When Hughes says, “does it dry up,” he is asking do the African Americans simply forget about their freedom and dreams? Since they are involuntarily in the situation and can’t leave, do they simply forget about the hopes and dreams they once had? Hughes is expressing the hopelessness of the African Americans’ situation. They were “voiceless and choiceless” in a land where they never wanted to be.
Hughes then asks the question if a dream deferred will “fester like a sore.” This seems to be asking if the African Americans will keep remembering their dream, and remembering what they can’t have. Will their abandoned dreams keep eating away at them? Is it possible that they can have the same soul and outlook on life after what they have been through? Their freedom has been taken away, and the way they are treated is a constant reminder of their status in America. Or, as Hughes states, maybe the dream “just sags / like a heavy load.” Maybe the hopelessness of their dream is constantly pulling at them and bringing them down. I think that Hughes is expressing the fact that some African Americans just give up on their dream entirely. They have already been so oppressed that they don’t see the point in trying any more. Their “dream deferred” because a burden to them.
At the end of the poem, Hughes asks “or does it explode.” The dreams of the African Americans have been suppressed for so long that some may not be able to take it any more. Maybe their feelings explode and they lash out on society and the American dream. After all, why would they want to participate in a society that has excluded them from it? Some African Americans may have a hard time coping with the oppression, so they just explode. Everything they wanted and dreamed of seems unattainable, and they react with anger and outrage.
The themes of the African
American people as a minority culture who is “voiceless and choiceless,” and
who was involved in involuntary participation benefits greatly from these words
being in poetic form rather than prose. The simple, direct statements in the
poem show how the African Americans were not allowed to participate in the
American dream. Instead they are a part of the “Dream,” which factors in
“setbacks and the need to rise again.” The poem uses strong, almost
disgusting language to describe the reactions of African Americans when they are
removed from the American dream. Words like “stink like rotten meat” and
“crust and sugar over” really gives readers an idea of the strong feelings
associated with the experience of the African Americans. Also being in poetic
form, the words jump out at you, and the reading is simply receiving questions
and descriptions that make them think. With each line, the reader is able to
visualize the effect that the treatment of the African Americans had on them.
Using the metaphor of a sore to describe the African American experience, shows
just how much difference there is between the American dream and the African
American dream. Their dreams have been involuntarily “deferred,” and their
left with the choice of what they will do about it. [AS]
When the Declaration of Independence was written, it promised that “all men are created equal; [and] they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In other words, the American Dream was available to all—that is all who were white, landowning males. The fact that the American Dream was not available to the African American is the subject of the poem, “Harlem.”
Hughes uses vivid imagery to convey to the reader what a deferred dream is like. The strength of the imagery used is that everyone knows about raisins, sores, rotten meat, heavy loads, and explosions; moreover, such an effective use of imagery keeps the poem from seeming outdated even though it was written in 1947. Also, the choice of festering sores and rotten meat as symbols for the dream deferred help to convey the feelings of disgust and revulsion that is felt by the African American. These symbols do an excellent job of conveying the author’s thoughts and attitudes regarding the deferred dream. Similarly, the fact that Hughes refrains from using too many words adds to the poem’s impact. It is a case where “less” is “more.”
Another effective technique used by Hughes is
the interrogative sentences. The
questions tend to make the reader think, and there is an impulse to supply the
answer. In fact, the reader is forced to answer because Hughes provides none.
Lastly, Hughes avoids alienating the reader by making accusations or by
using sarcasm; consequently, he is able to build a bond of understanding between
the reader and the subject. The
techniques and style used in this poem makes Hughes a superb and effective
spokesman for the African American. [NB]
Dream Variations
By
Langston Hughes
November
By Linda Hogan
This poem, written by Linda Hogan, paints a wonderfully red picture of a sunset. The sky burns with the setting sun and highlights the farm where the narrator stands. This wonderfully vivid peace highlights the themes of “Loss and Survival”, and “The Color code”.
By the title, the reader can assume that this piece is set in Canada. We see an Indian walking slowly through the farm reflecting on the red hue of the setting sun as it highlights objects. Meanwhile the wind whips through the corn causing a SHH sound. An origin story can be seen in the figure of the “Old Sky Woman” who has “opened her Red Cape”. The constant color of red is overwhelming and refers to two different symbols. In this poem, Red refers to the hue of blood, the Indian people, and the surface image of the setting sun. The second passage identifies the red people as “holy people” who enter the sky woman’s “burning heart”. The suggests that the red people are one with the nature because they are “walk with her” and “are both burning.” At the same time, the corn talking suggests that everything should be quiet- “SHH”. The sound that it makes is inherent to “be quiet” sounds that we make. This surreal scene then shifts to the symbol of blood associated with loss.
“She rides the old sow down on her knees in mud. Her prayers do not save her. Her many teats do not save her.” The idea that the pig will be sacrificed and nothing that the pig does can save her is mirrored in the statement, “I will not think we are blood sacrifices.” The narrator does not want to think that the English culture wants to sacrifice the Indian to the Queen, whose “Castle rises to the sky and crumbles.” This statement ideally represents the loss. While the constant presence of the secret represents the aspect of survival. The secret will last. The sounds will last. Even after the narrator is lost by “walking into the stone”, her story will last.
Stylistically, this poem could not be written as prose. The message of the poem could not artistically be put to pen without being a poem. The surreal tone, the red images, the feeling of sacrifice and the feeling of acquiring some secret could not be expressed in any other way. Even though this free verse is free flowing in nature, the images that it inspires is what makes it so great. Images, such as “Field of skeletal corn” and “red footprints of fire”, could not be created or voiced in prose while retaining the impact that this poem has. The feeling of the loss of the narrator, and the merging into the sun to be reborn into the other side of the world could be posed no other way then in free verse.
I have not done justice to this poem’s
interpretation. The overall red images have more impact then just blood and the
color of the red man. There is also the cool burning image of fire and blood,
the red of destruction and of rebirth. The sunrise, sunset imagery representing
the creation and destruction of night and many other symbols I have not touched
on. This poem deserves much more interpretation than I can give in the small
amount of time allotted. It makes me realize the power of red-“The rusty
calves watch with dark eyes.” Red transforms, changes, creates mysticism. Does
this suggest the Red man does the same? Certainly, for this red speaker merges
with the red sun like a ghost. Or was the narrator always the sun. There is a
secret in the poem- SHH. The secret, like the poem and the red man, will survive
eternally. [RA]
“Fooling God” by Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa)
The poem presents the theme of loss and survival (Obj 3c). She survives by becoming minute objects that will not bring attention to her self. By doing this, she hopes the dominant culture will not notice her. This theme relates to Obj 3c because it represents Amerinds' idea of waiting until the dominant culture destroys itself. Although, I question the end of the first stanza and the beginning of the second stanza because the objects she wants to become are domineering. She says, "Perhaps if I become the images passing through the cells of a woman's brain. I must become very large and block his sight. I must be sharp and impetuous as knives." It seems if she blocks sight or becomes sharp, she will be noticeable to the dominant culture. It is as if she gains a voice and is heard.
The poem works stylistically through allusions to biblical references. The title "Fooling God" could mean she is hiding from the dominant culture's religion, God, or culture. The many biblical allusions include: mustard grain, apple trees, collecting dust, and a tablet. She seems to be ironically making a point against the idea that God knows everything, yet He will not be able to find her.
She makes an impact on the theme of loss and survival by becoming the everyday things that surround the dominant culture; in this way, she survives because even though they cannot see her, she is everywhere. [TK]
“Elena”
by Pat Mora
3 C. In the poem “Elena” by Pat Mora the reader sees the conflict that can come of the language barrier between a mother and her children. The American school system teacher the children of all cultures English. There is a great need for teachers who are qualified to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). These students come home knowing a language their parents, in the case of “Elena” cannot speak or understand. The poem does not introduce a new concept as the class has already met up with the issue in Bless Me, Ultima of the children speaking English, and the parents Spanish, but it becomes a problem for this mother.
She starts off by saying “My Spanish isn’t enough,” since “Spanish can pertain to both language spoken, and heritage of a person the sentence has a huge impact. She feels inadequate in some function. With further reading we learn that she feels inadequate as a mother: “I remember how I’d smile listening to my little ones, understanding every word they’d say.” Like many other Mexican American writes she inserts a line of Spanish, but the impact is different here because it allows the white reader to share her experience (Obj. 5a) when we are unable to understand her children’s past language.
She bought a book to try to learn English and her husband disapproved. While her children say, “Mama, he doesn’t want you to be smarter than he is,” they imply that they are smarter than their parents. She has already expressed that she feels “dumb, and alone.” Her feelings of stupidity likely come as much from her community that assumes everyone who moves here should already be able to communicate in flawless English than from her children’s passing comment. This would cause new problems for her as she is deciding to assimilate, like her children, or to remain with her husband engulfed in the old culture.
More concerns are expressed when she considers her community saying:
“I’m forty,
embarrassed at mispronouncing words,
embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
the grocer, the mailman.”
She is not a child and still her language is amusing to those who she tries to relate to. Even here in the talk of her community, she writes about the distance between herself an her children. The reader gets a feeling of desperation in the voice of the author and she drives it home in her last lines:
“say the thick words softly,
for if I stop trying, I will be deaf
when my children need me”
Her children may need her and she may be unable to help because of this language barrier. It is evident at the end of the poem that she plans to assimilate at least in her language.
The story that is told by the poem could be easily written in a three sentence paragraph prose, but the impact would not be the same. Poetry forces a reader to slow down, and that causes them to think. In parts the author keeps the flow by splitting up the sentences between lines so that the reader never stops. This may be because she does not ever get to stop and have a break from the language around her, and she wants the reader to see the continuing concern and desperation of her situation. The lines she does want to impact you she leaves in one short sentence on one line so that the reader can consider that one thought for a moment, but there are only seven of the twenty-two. They all have to do with her feelings, or the things that happen that make her feel the way she does. In a prose this would not have been of much literary value, but the statements made by her in the poem make a deep impact on the reader. [THF]