Journal: Facing it

Journal: Facing it

1. Who is the speaker?

The speaker of this poem is black, US war veteran from Vietnam. Yousef Komuyakaa, the poet who wrote this poem, “Facing It”, did a stint in Vietnam and was a war correspondent.  

2. What is the speaker's attitude toward the subject of the poem?

Komuyakaa’s attitude toward the subject of this poem is about remembrance, sorrowfulness, and seeking some consolation for all of those soldiers who sacrificed their lives during Vietnam War. He is particularly sensitive to the plight of the African American soldiers of the Vietnam War.

3. Are the language colloquial, formal, simple, unusual?

The poet has a sense of language in its vernacular use or informal way of speaking; yet, he also includes a rich sensitivity towards the sound of the words and sentences that has an element of drama and music. The poet’s bio claims that this comes from his background and interests in jazz and blues music. He has a very simple yet, complex approach to language and poetic form.

4. Are there any allusions (references to something outside the poem, such as events or people from history, mythology, or religion)?

Komuyakaa makes an allusion to the War Memorial and in its images of the names of soldiers engraved into the polished black stones. Thus, he also reflects the color themes in American society and also of black and white soldiers pitted together against a common enemy as well as the cruelty of war. The poem reveals the painful consequence of Vietnam and how many people were affected by it – both overseas and at home in America making this poem so touching and dramatic.

5. Look at the figurative language of the poem--metaphors, similes, analogies, and personification. How do these images add to the meaning of the poem or intensify the effect of the poem?

There are few metaphor in this poem, such as “I am stone” (Line 5), “I'm flesh” (Line 5), and “I'm a window” (27). There are also simile, for example, “My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey.” (Line 6-7), and “My own in letters like smoke.” (Line 16).  Personification is also used in the poem such as in, “My clouded reflection eyes me…” (Line 6), “the profile of night slanted against morning.” (Line 7-8), and “the stone lets me go” (Line 9). Analogies can be found as Komuyakaa compares a person’s name to booby trap “I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap’s white flesh.” Moreover there is a rich analogy between the monument and the black mirror “inside the stone. In the black mirror.”      

6. Is there any alliteration, assonance, consonance repetition? What tonal effect do they have?

There are no obvious or extreme examples of alliteration, assonance, or consonance repetition in the poem; so, it has a flat and dissonant quality to it instead of any real matching sounds that are in any way harmonious.  The effect is slightly jarring and jagged; it is like dissonant jazz with clashing tonal qualities that strike odd notes that pitch high and low – it has an emotional effect that is unsettling and jangled.

Journal: Zimmer in Grade School

Journal: Zimmer in Grade School

1. Who is the speaker in the poem?

The poet Paul Zimmer; he is reflecting on his own childhood experiences in grade school. It sounds like he went to a very strict and tough Catholic school.

2. Who is the speaker talking to?

It seems as though he may be speaking rhetorically, or of his childhood self; or, he could be just thinking out loud about his experiences in grade school; and, in that sense, he is talking to all of us who read his poem because we can all relate on some level to the experience of his childhood. Either we have been that child in schooldays or known someone like Zimmer who suffered and faced the challenges and contests of school life.

3. How do you know? Use marginal notes to help you.

The poem focuses on Zimmer’s issues throughout his school years. “To wrestle in ashy puddle with my square nose streaming mucus and blood, my knuckle puffed from combat and old nun’s ruler.” suggest that Zimmer often got into fights with the other kids in his school. “I could not read, spell, or read. My report card proclaimed these scarlet failures…” is proof that Zimmer had a dreadful time back in his school days and that he may have been a poor student as well which is stated in the line: ‘It is always to known that I am Zimmer, the one who does the messy papers and fracture all his crayons, and sits all day in shame outside principal’s office.” Zimmer was likely labeled as a weird and troublesome kids by both his peers and his teachers and this added to his challenges and difficulties in those early days. 

Journal: Metaphors

Journal: Metaphors

1. Do some research on a sonnet and a metaphor and write a definition for both in your Journal

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme. In English, typically having ten syllables per line. Sonnets often use iambic pentameter, five sets of unstressed syllable followed by stressed syllable for a ten-syllable line.

A metaphor is a rhetorical figure of speech that compares two subjects that are not literally comparable but draws on a similarity in idea or concept that connects the two. It is a comparison without the use of “like” or “as”.

2. Explain why this poem is a sonnet.

This poem is not a conventional sonnet poem, despite the fact that it has a regular syllabic count in each line; but, has only nine lines and nine syllables per line. It does follow a pattern and is using the sonnet form of comparing one state of being with others that are dissimilar and yet, connected.

3. Count how many metaphors there are in the poem.

There are around fourteen different metaphors that can be found in the poem:

“I am the riddle…” (Line 1), “I am….an elephant,” (Line 2) “… a ponderous house.” (Line 2), “A melon…” (Line 3) “Strolling on two tendrils.” (Line 3), “Red fruit” (Line 4) “…ivory” (Line 4) “…fine timber.”(Line 4) “This loaf’s big with its yeasty rising” (Line 5), and “I am a means…” (Line 7) “…a stage” (Line 7) “….a cow in calf.” (Line 7) “I’ve eaten a bag of green apples.” (Line 8) “Boarded the train there’s no getting off.” (Line 9)

4. Choose one metaphor, describe what two things are being compared, and explain why it is a metaphor.

Plath compares the largeness of her state of pregnancy as “I’m…” and a series of metaphors. The most obvious being, “An elephant”. She is not just a little pregnant; she is expressing a ripe and full pregnancy – one that could be in any phase where it has become obvious and apparent to herself and to others that she is with child. It is a metaphor since she simply is “An elephant”; her use of metaphor here is not subtle; it is a stark visual comparison of being huge with child.

Journal: Still I Rise

Journal: Still I Rise

1. What is your response to the poem and your understanding of what issue(s) the poem is addressing?

My understanding of this poem is that this poem is an emotive poem written by an African-American poet to address the history of white oppression of black people. Angelou is speaking out to the centuries of mistreatment and oppression that black people have endured and will continue to endure. It can also be seen as a signature piece to encourage all who care not to give up despite being suppressed by the others.

2. Comment on the marginal notes and whether or not you agree with or have questions about what the person has written.

I agree with what the person has written in the marginal notes, the notes point out the specific literary devices such as rhyme, simile, and allusions in the poem. The marginal notes also ask the question about who Angelou is referring to as “you” in the poem. I believe she is referring to the oppressors of African-Americans from the time of slavery and on to the present. She is also speaking of an irrepressible pride and sense of ‘self’ that keeps the oppressed from giving up or giving in to the circumstances of a lengthy and on-going inequality with unspeakable indignities and tragedies. I think she is also addressing black youth, especially so that they will know that their legacy is one filled with pride and hope as much as the story of slavery and segregation and the scourge of racism.  

3. Note any additional marginal notes you would have added about other aspects of the poem.

I would have added the marginal note that explains “oil wells, gold mine” from the poem is a metaphor, as Angelou is referring those valuable items to herself; but, I think it is about the hidden reserves of strength that exist and can be drawn on by those who have suffered white oppression. There is something deep down and rich that the racists and bigots can never touch; they can never drain the resources of those who are truly in touch with their roots and their own worth and value. Like oil and gold, the spirit of the black man and woman is a rich and precious quantity that cannot be taken from them; but that they hold in reserve and can rise up to the surface at any time when needed.

4. Write down 2 similes, 2 allusions, and 2 motifs you find in the poem.

The two similes are “Just like moons and like suns” (line 9) and “Shoulders falling down like teardrops” (line 15). Two allusions are “Out of huts of history’s shame I rise up from the past that’s rooted in past I rise.” (line 25-28) and “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear.” Two motifs are the repetition of words “I rise” and “I will rise” and the other is a simile.