Analyzing Sharon Olds 'Poem On The Subway'

This book is made up of two cycles of poems, each confronting the same subject: the characterization of a black man in white America. In this book, I plan to focus mainly on the first cycle and touch briefly on the second. The first cycle includes four different sections. In section one of cycle one, Eady writes about Susan Smith and Charles Stuart, two murderers who blamed their crimes on nonexistent black attackers. The first poem is called “How I Got Born” (Eady 5), in this poem the fictional young African American man is conjured up. In the upper right-hand corner of the page, Eady writes a note that explains who and what the speaker is: “The speaker is the young black man Susan Smith claimed kidnapped her children” (Eady 5). In the first few lines of the poem he says, “Susan Smith willed me alive/ At the moment/ Her babies sank into the lake” (l. 1-40). So right away he gives us a pretty straightforward explanation for what this poem is about and what this section will be about. In the next few poems, the narrator discusses his “existence” and reason for being created. Eady uses a lot of metaphors, similes and imagery in his poems, and he does a phenomenal job with imagery.

“Let America Be America Again” becomes personal for the audience which is what makes this poem so easily appreciated and enjoyed. The poem refers to the many races and backgrounds by referring to, “the poor white, fooled and pushed apart” or “the Negro bearing slavery’s scars” (Line 19 and 20). Whether the reader is poor, rich, white, black, or Indian the poem goes in detail of how for better or worse everyone makes up America. With Langston Hughes being African American, he obviously witnessed and endured racism and hardships, but he broadened the discussion by not only mentioning the Negros, but of the poor whites and the “red man” to make

In conclusion, the poem was used as a key to unlock some of the thoughts the negro had concerning Africa. The negro in this poem was a representative of all negroes during this time; their thoughts and the their feelings toward Africa. Cullen’s usage of the literary devices allow for an effective expression of the meaning of this poem. Poems are intensified language of experience, so the devices assured the connection of the reader to the poem and the experience. This applies to many issues in society today because as beautiful as our country is there are still dark clouds that cover the very essence of what the states once stood

In the story, “On the subway”, the author Sharon Olds uses literary devices to help the reader get a clearer understanding of the theme of the passage. This devices are seen on the style and grammar being used in the story such as symbolism and imagery which illustrate the point of view the protagonist has towards society.

In the South, cotton for cloth was difficult to produce because of the pain and difficulty of having to separate the plant’s seeds from the fibers. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which made the job of producing cotton much more easier. As a result of the invention of the cotton gin, the demand for cotton went up. “Because cotton could be processed more easily, Southern planters wanted to grow more” (Page 423, Chapter 9, “Discovering Our Past: The American Journey” by Glencoe.). Since cotton could be produced more easily, it became the South’s key crop.

The survival of the Black American family is a revolutionary act. The system of slavery purposefully separated and destroyed black families. Yet, in the face of obstacles, the Black family as an institution survived. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden show the power of connection, love, and learning between the Black parent and the Black child. Many Black poets write about the Black experience in America, but few capture the interactions between Black parent and Black child the way Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden do in their poems “Mother to Son” and “Those Winter Sundays”, respectively. Langston Hughes and Robert Hayden use metaphors and imagery to portray the lessons Black children learn from Black parents.

The South’s first experience with exporting wasn’t a good one, in fact it was horrible. One bale of cotton was sent to England and that one bale of cotton rotted on its way across the Atlantic. At that time all of America’s cotton was grown on a total of two hundred acres on the Sea Islands just off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, however this was just the beginning. The only downside of growing cotton was the intense labor it demanded. The most tedious work with the cotton was the picking out of seeds, eventually Eli Whitney’s cotton gin would make this a much faster process and lowering the price of cotton as well. The cotton industry took off after the invention of the cotton gin, there was a much higher demand for cotton especially in

The southern region of the United States was supportive of the institution of slavery for a variety of reasons. The biggest contributor to southern support of slavery was the dependance of southern economy on the cultivation of cotton, a valuable cash crop. Southern economy depended on the cultivation of cotton, and profitable cultivation of cotton depended on slave labor. Cotton was so valuable to southern economy that the crop was commonly referred to as "King Cotton". The importance of cotton and its dependance on slave labor can be portrayed by the image entitled "Harvesting Cotton" which portrays a typical southern plantation with a number of black slaves tending to cotton plants. The historical context of this image is the cotton boom, which was when cotton began to take off as a staple cash crop in the Unites States, especially in the south. This image helps to explain the role that slavery had in the success of cotton as a cash crop and the cotton boom. Slaves were used in cotton fields to tend to the cotton crops and to harvest cotton fibers. For this reason, the south remained dependent on and supportive

The 2016 census reported that 14% of the United States population was living below the poverty line. And sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Leading people to go as far as committing a crime just to feed their family. This was the theme of Cage The Elephant’s song, “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” written by Matt Schultz. In the song, Schultz utilizes personal experiences and an emotional appeal to address the issues of poverty to the upper classes and to justify how people in poverty or “the Wicked” handle their situation by the means of crime and immoral ways.

In this poem, he touches on many themes. One of the main ones being mortality. Essentially, he is asking African-Americans are they willing to die for their rights. In order to encourage them, he declares that their deaths would be noble. There is a theme of warfare, as the race riots were basically a war between blacks versus whites. This contributes to the “us versus them” mentality, which then adds to the disdain amongst the two races. Honor is probably the most important theme, as it runs throughout the other major themes of the poem and is essentially the point of the poem. Even though you have already accepted your faith of dying, die with honor and meaning.

Race plays a big part in this poem. He speaks on Harlem and its culture and this environment but also about mutual interest with people

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

Throughout the poem, the author chooses simple diction. This makes the tone straightforward and blunt, like a black America who simply expresses himself instead of sermonizing about discrimination. Thereby, readers can accept the poem’s argument more easily. Furthermore, the author writes the poem mostly in long sentences to emphasize on short yet important sentences such as “That’s America.”, “Be we are. That’s true!”

The main observation readers could take from this poem is that the “lower” individual has to take care of and pick up after the white man. It is even hinted at that the poems the mother chant rival the alleged master of poetry’s own works.

Poetry can follow your life all the way through, from the innocence of a child, to the end of your days. The comfort, seduction, education, occasion and hope found in poems are elaborated in Poetry Should Ride the Bus by Ruth Forman. As the poem reads on, you not only travel through the life of a person from adolescence to being elderly through vivid imagery, but also hit on specific genres of poems through the personification of poetry as the characters in the stages of life. This poem’s genres hit on what poetry should do and be, by connecting the life many of us live.