Nikky Finney Poem Analysis

Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.

Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem, “Poema para los Californios Muertos” (“Poem for the Dead Californios”), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speaker's dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the “Californios” through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language.

When I think of a poet, images of scowling, mustached men whose 19th century wardrobe could use an update spring to mind—a somber Edgar Allen Poe type whose ink strokes inquire of unrequited love interests and dreary days alone in the snow. I certainly do not imagine modern, multi-ethnic women who live in the same state as me. However, as soon as I read Natasha Trethewey’s poetry, I immediately admired the way her words so effortlessly danced on the page, my mind’s eye watching the elegant choreography with each syllable read. Moreover, when I learned of her tragic history, and the strength and resilience she possessed to carry on, I could not help but to respect the way she turned pain into beautiful art. The right words carry great power

The whites quickly pilled on the bus and all the blacks pilled in the back.. Ms. Parks on the other hand didn't move. Quickly the driver threatened to arrest her. As the driver began to get angry Rosa calmly with all the confidence in the world just sat. Rosa Parks got arrested that day for every black in the nation. She wanted to prove to all people that she would be treated as anyone else in the community.

Beauty is a subjective idea that focuses on the characteristics preferable to a single species that gives an advantage over another and at the cost of another species survival. Humans have created astounding empires with beautiful cities and monuments because they were the most progressive species that are able to do so because of their capacity for violence. Some empires fear for their survival, so they must eliminate any threat whether it be humans or other animals. The poem, “Thanks” by Yusef Komunyakaa, it symbolizes how humans can become single minded only driven by their own personal desires at the sake of anyone else. Humans naturally commit ugly atrocities to progress their own beauty, or at least idea of, and they instinctively oppose nature because mankind is the dark side of nature.

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

Rosa Parks is a civil rights activist and is a tragic hero known for her Strength, bravery, wisdom, peace and perseverance taking a major role in the Montgomery bus boycott and standing up against oppression, She and many others stood up for their rights, She refused to surrender her seat on a segregated Montgomery Alabama city bus on the day of December 1, 1955 which began the 381 day long Montgomery Bus Boycott which then helped launch the nation wide efforts to end segregation of public facilities.

She was a strong and determined civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. She believed in rights for African Americans and had hope for the future she wanted. And when she refused to give up her seat, the bus driver had her arrested. She was later asked about her bold act, and said that “my refusal wasn’t because I was physically tired, but that I was tired of giving in.” Her attitude towards this dilemma sparked a rebellion against the oppression that was put upon African Americans and was called the Montgomery boycott. Which was when the black population of Montgomery boycotted the same bus company that racially discriminated Rosa Parks. This historical event was to be considered victorious, as 40,000 African Americans opted to walk to work instead of riding the bus, some even as far 20 miles. Without Rosa’s optimism today, who knows where we would be? Her optimism has shaped our world for the better by instilling hope for the cure of cancer that plagues this world. Racial

Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the ‘colored section’ inside the bus to a white passenger, and this went against the customs at the time. As a result of the arrest, Montgomery black community initiated a bus boycott that lasted for more than a year.

Theoharis expresses the main misconception of Rosa Parks in the sentence, “In textbooks and documentaries, she is the meek seamstress gazing quietly out of a bus window…” The phrase, “meek seamstress gazing quietly,” conveys the soft-spoken, introverted, and standoffish persona that media assigns to Rosa Parks’ legacy. Theoharis challenged that persona and further advanced her argument by using vocabulary with stronger connotations. For example, Theoharis refers to Rosa Parks as, “a lifelong activist who had been challenging white supremacy for decades before she became the famous catalyst for the Montgomery bus boycott.” In fact, Theoharis refers to Parks as, “being a rebel.” The phrases “lifelong activist,” “famous catalyst,” and “rebel,” further indicates Parks’ commitment, determination, initiative, and assertiveness throughout her lifetime and the Civil Rights

Through the use of satire, Poet Nikky Finney conveys the racial injustice in America; by comparing the treatment of blacks and white. Finney depicts that her life “not worth saving” (34) because she can not spell and since she is black, automatically makes her life not worth the risk of saving. Numerous examples of racial inequality throughout the poem; “It catches all of this on patriotic tape, but does not land, and does not drop dictionary, or ladder.” (39); because her life is not deemed worthy of saving as they search around for lives worth saving, hence white people whose lives are worth more in their eyes. Furthermore, Finney’s use of satire and sarcasm to clearly portray the examples of racial inequality, “Foie gras and free massage

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). I was tired, tired of being oppressed, and tired of being stepped on by the law, and my fellow people. That was the only tired i felt. The Montgomery Bus protest sparked a fire that would be felt throughout the entire country, and it was the spark that ignited the fire of the civil rights movement that shook the world. The boycott was the first of it, once light was shown on the problem, she began travelling cross country spreading information about civil rights, and sparking more peaceful protest. Rosa Parks was an important figure that changed the direction of the United States of America. She was trying to get home from work that day, but she turned into an icon for the civil rights movement, and shined a light on the unfair treatment of african americans.

This lady was a Civil Right activist Rosa Louis McCauley Parks, “As required under the city law in Montgomery, Alabama.” After this incident, many African-Americans decided to boycott their local buses. Instead, they would find other means of transportation like walking or riding cabs. Rarely, if an African-Americans woman worked for a white employer, the employer would go to the house of their African-Americans employee and pick them up. Consequently, the boycott lasted a year. Then, in 1956, after 381 days of boycotting, the supreme court ruled in favor of the African-Americans, and a month later the “Blacks” and “White” signs were removed. Rosa Louis McCauley Parks was called the “Women of the Civil Right

People today know Rosa Parks as the pivotal for the main cause of Montgomery Bus Boycott, but it was not just her, it was also Claudette Colvin. She was one of the four women who got arrested nine months before Parks in March 1955. Colvin’s situation was similar to Parks; Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus . Claudette was only fifteen years old at the time of the arrest. She was also a member of the NAACP Youth Council. The NAACP wanted to test the Montgomery Bus System by assigning black women to challenging the Jim Crow law on buses in Montgomery, AL. After her arrest, even though she was a youth, the NAACP thought Colvin would be their key to their rebellion, but could not happen because she later became pregnant. During her pregnancy, Colvin testified in the Montgomery federal court on the hearing of the Browder v. Gayle case. Her performance of that civil disobedience did not spark the bus boycott as Parks did, but did started something that Rosa Parks finished.

Some of the poems and essays I have read during this class were relatable to me. Being away from college, I have struggled with not being at home. I have become a different person when I am at school, but when I am home, I feel like I am my normal self again. Some of these authors of the poems and essays that I have read throughout this class has struggled with being somewhere where they don’t belong and that they are someone else when they are not home. Unlike the other poems and essays we have read throughout the course. I enjoyed reading the ones about “home” because I actually understood what they are going through and that I can relate. Some of these poems and essays include “Going Home” by Maurice Kenny, Postcard from Kashmir”, by Agha Shahid Ali, “Returning” by Elias Miguel Munoz and “Hometown” by Luis Cabalquinto. All of these poems deal with duality.