Poetry Poetry is a type of literature that uses writing aesthetically to create a certain feel or emotion towards a topic. Nikki Giovanni, the poet of ‘The World is Not a Pleasant Place to Be’ and ‘Ego-Tripping’, uses these special techniques of writing to make her poetry speak to her readers. The two poems are connected with showing what the almighty power love has on your decisions but also on your life in general. At the same time, they are teaching you to be humble about your privileged accomplishments.
Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville on June 7, 1943. Raised in Cincinnati, she now works at Virginia Tech University. Giovanni spoke of having lived through very gut-wrenching events. “Having lived through one of the most tumultuous
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While reading this poem, you notice that she uses a great deal of not so much information, and more of inspiration from events that occurred long before the author’s actual time on Earth. The ‘main character’ is incredibly egocentric, saying that they are “so perfect/so divine/so ethereal” (Giovanni 47). The literary devices used were allusion and hyperbole. An allusion is an indirect reference to something well-known. Almost the entire poem is an allusion, referencing back to long before the author’s life. Speaking of being born near the Congo River (1) and being present when the prophet Noah built the ark (27) happened thousands of years ago. A hyperbole is an exaggeration. The poem reads, “The tears from my birth pains/created the Nile” (Giovanni 13-14). Truly, no human being has the strength nor the supernatural power to cry enough tears one time to fill a riverbed. The main theme of the poem talks about how pride shouldn’t be able to give you a big head. Be proud of who you are, but not so much that you become conceited. With the title being “Ego-Tripping” it’s quite an easy concept to understand before you even read the poem. It would seem that the so-called ‘main character’ was tripping over her
Another portion of the text that is worth analyzing is whether or not the poet is a real person or a generalization about all or most poets. All of the lines in the poem use general text and never label a specific person. What’s interesting about the text is that without the title it would be nearly impossible to distinguish whether or not the person the poem is about is a poet or not. The way the text allows the reader to find a figurative meaning to the poem is by being vague enough and
Christina Tartini Mrs. Kuehlke Writing Workshop March 2015 The Virginia Tech Massacre "I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy."
“Because they never understand Black love is Black wealth” (Line 22), proving that although people judge about the welfare of black people, all that is needed is love and that is enough. She then ends the poem with “ I really hope no white person ever has the cause to write about me” (Line 21), which in her mind she thought you wouldn’t understand the culture and how you could be happy in that environment if you weren’t there. People usually imagine black families impoverished, upset, or angry, but with this poem she explains that she had a family that was nothing like that and her family’s love made her childhood great. Nikki Giovanni said a lot more than she wrote in this poem, by showing the flip side to what everybody thinks is a horrible lifestyle to live in. She explains that her parents had love for her, even though they had their own problems.
Nikki Giovanni is marked down as one of the 25 most influential poets in history. She is wise, strong, and a fierce black woman who used her experiences with segregation to pilot her success. Even though she isn’t currently well known by the youth, she impacted the entire nation through her poetry, books, music and attitude throughout the black revolution. Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr. was born on June,7 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is one of the last great baroque poets. She was a nun, but not by vocation. This poem is also about how beauty decays over time however in contrast to Góngora 's poem, which is about an unnamed woman, De La Cruz 's Sonet 145 is about herself. Also there is the further theme of beauty as a lie, or a trick, to deceive us into thinking that we are doing somthing more other than passing through time, waiting to die.
In “The Trouble with Poetry” the speaker touches on the same idea of how poetry is so forced, and how it has lost its meaning as an expression and has become more of an addiction among
Poetry is a very unique type of writing. Poetry allows people to express their emotions in a way they feel comfortable. Every poem has a meaning to it, whether it is talking about food, interest, or a moment in their lives. Readers often mistake the poet as the narrator, although in many cases this is true. Many poets are the narrators and the poems are about their personal life.
This was an unexpected turn, as he passed away on June 8,1982, the day after his 39th birthday. This was the very same year that Giovanni decided to write this poem. She used this poem as a window to reach her readers, while letting out her deepest emotions through poetry to mourn the lost of her father. This is a double-sided piece of poetry that deals with decisions; implying that there are two conflicting sides of the story.
In the poem “Ego-Tripping” by Nikki Giovanni, she normalizes her worth by continuing to royalist herself as a black woman who is essential to mankind. Giovanni creates a vision throughout the poem, which leaves a thought in mind of how woman should look at themselves with much confidence as Giovanni does. “Ego Tripping” was written by Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, Jr. who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943. G9iovanni is a writer, poet, activist, and educator whose work was influenced during the Black Power Movements and the Civil Rights Movement. The poem was released in 2002.
Her writings include the poems “Legacies” and “Choices”. “Legacies” written in 1976 is one of Giovanni's famous pieces of work. Legacies express Giovanni’s knowledge passed down from her generation (Applebee 418). Her knowledge was passed by her grandmother a great teacher to her. She influenced her granddaughter in many ways, such as her informal speech/slang (PoetryFoundation 1).
The poem, in brief, is about the struggle the speaker faces as he prepares for war and attempts to explain to his lover how important honor is to him, surpassing even his feelings for her. It is written creatively, with a unique style. The poem is also personal and temporal, a trait of poems of this era. The poem is written in a conversational tone and is read as if by a male writer to a female lover. Lovelace weaves poetic techniques such as assonance, and metaphor together to create a good rhythm, and a theme based upon honor.
Poetry is a piece of literature where the author shares his ideas of a subject or person. He is attempting to allow the reader an understanding of his feelings regarding this subject. Most of the time poetry can be very pleasing to the ear; however, at times it can be written in a manner that is odd. Some poetry is written in a way that the reader can “hear”, “feel”, “see” or “taste” elements in the poem. Some poems may rhyme while others may not need to in order to convey the message.
The poem A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara has five stanzas written in a free verse format with no distinguishable rhyme scheme or meter. The poem uses the following asymmetrical line structure “14-10-9-13-3” while using poetic devices such as enjambment, imagery, and allusion to create each stanza. A Step Away From Them occurs in one place, New York City. We know this because of the lines, “On/ to Times Square, / where the sign/blows smoke over my head” (13-14) and “the Manhattan Storage Warehouse.”
This is different from the other poem Women because in the poem by Nikki Giovanni the speaker keeps changing for someone and they constantly reject her. This shows that she does not have the confidence to be who she truly is without their approval. “She wanted to be a blade / of grass amid the fields / but he wouldn 't agree / to be the dandelion,” (Giovanni 1-4). These lines show that they do not want to be amongst
The first stanza of the poem personifies Africa as a woman of her beauty. The second stanza shows the history of Africa crippled of her powers. The third stanza shows Africa is rising from the suffering of her past. First, the poem personifies Africa as a woman to define the continent’s beauty. The poet uses the earthly method to compare Africa to a woman.