Reader:  Tammy Nohr

Respondent:  Anissa Cantin 

“Blonde White Women”

Patricia Smith

Unsettling America, pp. 77-79

Biographical Information

Patricia Smith was born in Chicago in 1955.  She is a poet, performance artist, and journalist.  Her volumes of poetry include Close to Death (1993), Big Towns, Big Talk (1992), and Life According to Motown (1991).  Ms. Smith was a leader in the poetry slam movement, which originated in Chicago in the late 1980’s.  In 1991 she left Chicago to pursue her journalism career in Boston. 

According to Poetry Slam, Inc. (www.poetryslam.com), poetry slam is “the competitive art of performance poetry [which] puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance.”  A poetry slam differs from open mic in that the emphasis is placed on the audience rather than the poet, with audience members judging poets based on content and performance.    

Course Objectives

1d.  “The Color Code”

            Generally western civilization transfers the values it associates with “light and dark”—e.g., good & evil, rational & irrational—to people with light or dark complexions.

5a.  Discover the power of poetry and fiction to help “others” hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience. 

Literary Terminology

The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms defines imagery as “a term used to refer to:  (1) the actual language that a writer uses to convey a visual picture; and (2) the use of figures of speech, often to express abstract ideas in a vivid and innovative way (210).  Imagery can be literal or figurative.  In Smith’s description of snowy Boston, I think we can read her imagery as both literal and figurative. 

Interpretation

I think Smith illustrates the frustration and self-loathing brought about by the rejection or hostility of the dominant culture.  In her youth she dreams and schemes of becoming a ‘blonde white woman.’  As she grows she seems to develop her own sense of individuality and comes to not only accept who she is, but to finally embrace her own identity. 

In the fall 2003 American Immigrant Literature class, “student B” commented, “I keep envisioning Marilyn Monroe when reading this poem.”  Another student, Rob, asked, “Would Marilyn Monroe write a poem entitled “When I Was Thin” if she were alive today?”

Questions

What are your initial reactions to the poem?

What do you make of the opening line?  The opening stanza?  Does the first stanza set a certain mood or tone? 

What do you make of the reference to Marilyn Monroe?

Do you think the author is struggling with assimilation versus resistance? 

What do you make of the last few lines of the poem?