The Poem Of 'Dothead'

During the time this poem was written, racism and prejudice towards African Americans was prevalent and habituated to whites. From the first stanza alone, the tone is already set as uncharitable and

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!”

“Dothead”. What is the first thing you think of when you read this word? Does it sound pleasant? For me, the first thing that I noticed about the word dothead was that it has a very negative connotation attached to it. It sounds as if it were mocking something or someone. If someone was to call someone a dothead I would imagine that the person being called a dothead would not find that to be a compliment. Sure, enough in the poem “Dothead” by Amit Majmudar that is exactly what “dothead” refers to, someone mocking something in this case specifically, someone mocking someone else’s culture. I think it is very clever of Amit Majmudar to title this particular poem of his “Dothead”. Throughout the poem the speaker’s classmates are mocking his culture, specifically the red dot that his mother and all of the other women in his culture where on their foreheads, this is where the title “Dothead” comes from. This red dot the speaker is referring to is called a “bindi” usually in the Indian culture a bindi is used to signify that a woman is married and it also is referred to in a more religious meaning as a “third eye” to ward off bad luck.

Secondly, the speaker of the poem can be described as underprivileged, and this is shown throughout the entire poem. For example, line 1 of the poem it states "some are teethed on a silver spoon” and line 5 it states "some are swaddled in silk and down”. This shows that the speaker is not the same as the person who is teethed on a silver spoon or cared for very carefully. This inclusion also shows that the speaker was not born into a wealthy family and so the speaker must fight for what they need pertaining to themselves and the family.

This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality,

Poems are built with tradition, but in his case, the speaker wants to end tradition just as he wants to end racism. In line two and three, they both end with the same word which is called symploce. Symploce is a combination of anaphora and epistrophe which implies that these two lines are an important point of the figure of speech. The poem was written by stating a cause and effect. The line beginng with by is the cause and I being the effect. Its an explination of how he will fight social injustice. It also helps readers to use and understand the most effective way to fight social

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

Methods: The poet in the very first line uses he two words “Your” and “my” to create clear separation or division.

This is a poem that is mainly directed to the violence that was often experienced by children with an African-American ethnicity. The violence was mainly experienced on the streets where a majority of these children lived.

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

– Let America be America again). The poems display images of hardship and frustration. They both speak of a difference within races and also what the life in America is different from the eyes of someone who isn’t white.

In those years, racism was a strong and violent issue that not only referred to women but also to minorities such as black people, gays and single mothers. Today people are still struggle with these very issues. Racism in America is proving that this essay is sadly very relevant today and this minorities group reacts in different ways but always similar to Lorde’s description of poetry as a form of creativity as a class issue, thinking that in the 80’s poetry was the most economical way of communication. In recent years there has been an explosion of creativity by minority groups in form of: street-art, rap music, and

In the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience

The author develops the theme of this poem that white men desire expansion for the greater good of the people through diction and repetition. First, the writer uses diction to both illustrate his theme and connect with the reader. There are many uses of formal diction scattered throughout this

McKay pointedly discusses and examines the radian inequality experienced by some American citizens during the twenties. Throughout the poem, McKay teeters back and forth between his intense positive and negative feelings of both America and the American way of life during this period, for example, his unexplainable love for the country versus the people’s racism which he personally encounters like when he says “l will confess/I love this cultured hell that tests my youth”(America,3,4). This was a very exciting time for many Americans as the roaring twenties were coming into full swing and society was celebrating the decade of carefree decadence, but there was a seedy dark side to America as well. For example, blacks in the South, where McKay