Kidnap Poem By Nikki Giovanni

For example on page 271 of the poem ‘Nikki-Rosa’ line 30 to 33, “Black love is Black wealth and they’ll probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that all the while I was quite happy.” This is an example of one of her famous non fiction poems she wrote about her remembrances being a “Black” child. One fictional poem she wrote was “The Beep Beep poem”. On page 308, line 1 to 3 it says, “i should write a poem but there's nothing that hasn't been said,”. This example also supports my first paragraph thesis because this is also a very straightforward part of her poems. These two examples from her writing support that Nikki Giovanni can and does write both fiction and nonfiction poems. Because she writes both fiction and nonfiction poems you can say that Nikki Giovanni is a very well rounded poet.

There is no verse in the poem, but there is a rhythm that emerges when read aloud. The author uses a negative, positive pattern throughout the majority of the poem, which, accentuates the differences between her positive feeling about the memory, vs. the white author’s perception of the memory.

In Nikki Giovanni’s poem “We Are Virginia Tech,” which was spoken at a memorial ceremony for Virginia Tech shooting victims, she uses her tone and a repetition of words to make her speech very powerful. The tone of her voice is very distinct, she speaks with poise and confidence, while remaining remorseful but positive

She wrote this poem at the age of thirteen which was also her first poem published .

Nikki Giovanni, one of the most famous African American poet is widely known through her interesting style in her poetries. Giovanni’s innovative usage of poetic technique of allusion, wide range of imagery, excessive hyperbole and free verse conveys and emphasizes her style and persona as uncontrolled and unrestrained by rules.

Her poetry also becomes more musical, working off of the definite alliteration of her early poetry as in "Bitter Black Bitterness," but containing a lyrical style resembling famous singers like Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack, both of whom she writes about. Giovanni, embracing sound and repetition in "[Untitled] (For Margaret Danner)," sings,

In Maya Angelou's’ excerpt, she uses descriptive imagery to shed light on what it was like to be alive in the black community at the time of this special event. Using imagery can display the audible and visual settings of a story. This allows a better understanding for the audience. Moreover, making the audience feel as if they are a part of the story. Angelou writes,“The last inch of space was filled, yet people continued to wedge themselves along the walls of the Store. Uncle Willie had turned the radio up to its last notch so that youngsters on the porch wouldn't miss a word.”

The poet uses repetition of the word ‘rise’ to show that she has overcome and risen above racism. In the line, ‘you may trod me in the very dirt but still, like dust ill rise’ it expresses to the reader one of the key ideas in her poem, that no matter how unjustly others may treat her because of her colour, she will not be defeated and will stand up again. The main symbol in that line is the rising dust. For dust to rise, it must be unsettled from the ground in order for it to leave and rise,

　　Specifically in the poem "The Last Mojave Indian Barbie", Diaz takes on an untraditional format. This is a prose poem. These blocks of text do not rely on line breaks to carry the movement of the poem and quite nicely keep the poem shapeless, letting the images she evokes during this story-telling shape the content. The poem itself is funny and a little jolting, recounting the life of the last Mojave Barbie who has a drinking problem, has disdain for her white counterparts skin, and eventually gets kicked out of the dream house for having sexual relations with Ken. On her way out, the barbie flips the housemates off, a clear image and one that seemingly reflects the exclusion of Indians from the American Dream.

On the other hand, as Giovanni introduces whom she portrays in the poem she also introduces her conviction for her race and ethnic roots. The poem’s setting can be evidently noted as Africa. Based on the analysis produced by Encyclopedia.com, “By making the speaker a strong and powerful goddess, Giovanni counters the oppression that so many blacks have had to endure in the US.” She also exemplifies how proud she is of her background in the exact first line of the poem firmly stating “I was born in the Congo.” For a multitude of African Americans Africa is a continent whose history is looked upon for meaning and understanding of the African American origins. As well as, viewed in a sense whose history contests to more than two hundred

The chorus goes as following, “Through the wind and the rain/She stands hard as a stone/In a world that she can't rise above/But her dreams give her wings/And she flies to a place where she's loved/Concrete angel”. The first two lines are a simile and represent logos because wind is normally interpreted as something sad that moves things. Rain is also interpreted as sad and depressing because when it rains it is normally gloomy and the sky is grey and simply makes people feel down. The simile is saying that Angela is acting like a hard stone, one that doesn’t move and is up fighting against the harsh wind and rain that is pouring down on her. Also, the last four lines demonstrate that in the abusive situation that Angela is in and can’t seem to get out, affects her want of receiving love and admiration by someone and causes her to rise above and go to heaven where she will receive the love that she

“The first thing to go is the mirror. It is screwed to the wall, so I cover it with a poster of Maya Angelou that the librarian gave me. She said Ms. Angelou is one of the greatest American writers. The poster was coming down because the school banned one of her books. She must be a great writer if the school board is afraid of her,” (Anderson 50). In this quote, Melinda sees Maya Angelou as a strong female role model. Although Melinda does not know how Maya had a similar experiences as a child, the poster fits in with the rest of Melinda’s closet. “He grabs my wrists. I try to pull them back and he squeezes so tight it feels like my bones are splintering. He pins me against the closed door. Maya Angelou looks at me. She tells me to make some noise. I open my mouth and take a deep breath,” (Anderson 194). When Melinda is trapped inside her closet with Andy, Maya serves as an encouraging influence, pushing Melinda to speak. Anderson can use allusions, like the Maya Angelou poster, to provide context that will probably be understood by readers. Since readers will most likely recognize the allusion, they will understand its importance in the

Paul Laurence Dunbar is African-American poet who lived from in the late 1880s to the early 1900s. During his life, Dunbar wrote many poems, in both dialect and standard english. However, many of his poems are considered controversial now, due to negative racial stereotypes and dialect. Currently, some believe that Dunbar’s poetry perpetuates harmful stereotypes such as use of dialect; while others believe that it helps break racial stereotypes through the portrayed emotions. Dunbar’s dialect poetry is helpful for African-Americans, because it accurately depicts the experience of African Americans and humanizes them.

Nikki Giovanni’s poem, Ego Tripping is a well-known poem that celebrates beauty in black women everywhere. While reading the poem, readers may notice that there is not a specific known main character. This may be because she wants her readers to not look to any specific person as beautiful, but rather to accept all beauty regardless of its shape, color, and/or origin. She shares this message to her readers by making the character appear large/supernatural in the imagination of the reader. She also Places the character in rank with important figures and throughout the poem makes the character the creator of many things precious to the world without giving readers not the slightest clue who it could be.

In this essay we will look into her life through three of her poems in