StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The author of the "Analysis of the Poem What it's Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith" paper focuses on the poem about a young girl at crossroads in a harsh society, which makes her realize the real effects of being black in rapidly changing social circles. …
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95% of users find it useful
Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith"

The poem “Child of America” by Aurora Morales involves an American coming from various mixtures of cultures, which compromise her real identity and heritage in having a complete identity as an American (McLeod, 1994), and having the privileges of having a pure and traceable background. The poem tells a story of an American who is at crossroads without a clear identity in the society; she struggles to define her identity from the mixture of several cultures, upon which she realizes it’s futile.

She is therefore satisfied by being ‘an American,’ though with a rich cultural mix. Comparing the two poems, both the narrators are involved in a struggle to define their real identity in a society, which portrays them to be different, despite being real Americans. The stories are therefore struggles of people at crossroads to define their real identities, as to have a sense of belonging in society. The first line of the poem by Morale holds the tone and mood of the entire poem. “I am a child of the Americans… a child of many Diaspora born into this continent at a crossroad.

” (Syamisi, 2003) The tone, in this case, is deep and portrays a case of being at crossroads and not really understating the identity of oneself. Though the narrator assents to the idea of being American, likewise, she assents to the idea of belonging to other cultures outside America, leading her into deep confusion regarding her real identity. The use of strong words with repetitions that seem contradictory further narrates the magnitude of the crisis facing many immigrants in America.

As the narrator explains, “I am not African, Africa is in me…. Spanish is in my flesh…. I am not European; Europe lives in me…..” (Syamisi, 2003) These are metaphors that portray confusion in search of an identity. In addition, is the integrated mix of culture that makes the audience view the narrator as a true American. This is because; America is a land of many races and cultures, mainly consisting of Africans, Spanish, the Indians, and others. The narrator finds her indemnity with all these cultures to indicate her true belonging to the American land (Barnet, 2005).

This tone is applied to explain the misguided notion that many people have concerning people like the narrator. The mood of the poem is a dull one, as the narrator tries to take the audience through what seems more like a riddle, as she finally consents to be at crossroads, “I was born at crossroads and I am whole”. The poem is thus presented as a riddle for the audience to crack and describe her real identity; her identity seems elusive as she rules out going back to any of the cultures and races she mentions, due to her current deviation from such races.

She is in a lost culture, which explains the real picture of the current American citizen. In “what it’s like to be a Black girl” by Smith, the author starts with the first there syllables “First of all,” to give a notion of a story; she prepares to narrate. The author utilizes jagged sentences with strong language to portray how serious her case is. This is because; being a black woman is intended to invoke the feelings of race and segregation (Harrison, 2009), meaning the narrator has to undergo many hardships in her urge to define her real identity in the society.

This is portrayed by Smith as she explains, “it’s being 9 years old and still feeling as you are not finished,….. like there is something, everything wrong.” (Nunnigin Cicles, 2011) The harsh tone denotes the awkward situation she finds herself in, and portrays high hopes of better things to come, or having herself in a better, more accommodating society. The rejection that she is facing is observed as Smith elaborates, “it's dropping food coloring into your eyes in order to make them blue and suffering their burns in silence.

It’s ……… and pimping in front of your mirrors that deny your reflection.” (Marley, 2011) The tone in this poem is too deep as the narrator unfolds her ordeal in this society. As earlier argued at the beginning, Smith uses an introduction that puts the audience in the mood of a story. The tone of the story is too painful, with the narrator detailing her helplessness as she tries to change her looks to resemble others in society. She is sure of better treatment when she resembles the other girls and women.

The above statement reckons the use of awkward methods to turn her color and eyes to correspond to those of other women and girls. However, she still remains the same despite the agony. This story indicates a society where white women with blue eyes and blonde hair are perceived to be the real identity of the society. The poem, therefore, presents a girl with an uncertain future in a developing society that still inhabits the thoughts of racial supremacy in preferring specific types of people as compared to others.

Smith takes us through the story in a deep tone, and strong words denoting the painful ordeal of the girl as she grows to adulthood. Both “what it’s like to be a Black girl” by Smith, and “I am a child of the Americans” by Morales are about the search of an identity of belonging in a society made of a rich mix of cultures, yet retaining prejudices in segregating some of these cultures as being inferior to others. Though Morales's story contains lighter notes form the narrator regarding her ordeal, Smith’s story is one of a painful encounter of rejection and segregation.

Therefore, the stories involve an elusive search of identity by many Americans, which mostly results in more confusion; many residents find themselves at crossroads. References Barnet (2005).

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Essay, n.d.)
Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Essay. https://studentshare.org/literature/1442998-the-poem-what-its-like-to-be-a-black-girl-by-patricia-smith
(Analysis of the Poem What Its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Essay)
Analysis of the Poem What Its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Essay. https://studentshare.org/literature/1442998-the-poem-what-its-like-to-be-a-black-girl-by-patricia-smith.
“Analysis of the Poem What Its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Essay”. https://studentshare.org/literature/1442998-the-poem-what-its-like-to-be-a-black-girl-by-patricia-smith.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Analysis of the Poem What its Like to Be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith

Catholic domination in Ireland

Hence, “the statement that authority is natural is a mistaken analysis of how authority in such circumstances functions”12 because according to the... Furthermore, Gardiner10 emphasizes that the human origin as the God's offshoot presupposes the necessity for the communal living, hence this need is also God-given, while the endeavour for the individuality leads to coercion, and its further development into tyranny and injustice.... Since the government and its authority are ‘natural', the institutions such as the Censorship Board are also regarded as ‘natural', “and as such, legitimate guardians and assessors of the norms towards which one must strive”11....
23 Pages (5750 words) Essay

Effect of Racial Discrimination on Youth

Based on this my thesis statement would be: ‘Racial discrimination has far-reaching effects on the youth' Literature Comparison The two pieces selected for this comparison are Child of the Americas by Aurora Levins Morales and What it's like to be a black girl by patricia smith.... Child of the Americas……………………………………………………………………4 What it's like to be a black girl………………………………………………………....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Comparing the Theme of Race and Ethnicity

patricia smith In the poem written by Smith, a young black woman has been raised by a society which is full of racism and discrimination.... smith wished to identify herself with the African American culture while Levin Morales embraced her Latino origin, though she fits perfectly America.... smith is a young woman who is trying to become something that she is not.... ?? According to the above phrase, it seems like smith never truly loved to be who she was....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Country Lovers and What its like be a Black Girl Comparsion

The discussed works are Nadine Gordimer's 1975 short story “Country Lovers” and Patricia Smith's 1991 poem “What it's like to be a black girl”.... Both “Country Lovers” and “What it's like be a black girl” feature women as the main characters.... “Country Lovers” divulges the story of a white Afrikaner boy who forms a close relationship with a black girl employed on his parent's massive farm....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Power of the Pen

(what its like to be a black girl, Poetry - CollegeTermPapers.... The other form of literature that will be scrutinized is “What it's like to be a black girl?... Smith, also an activist wrote this specific poem to explain the feelings of a black girl, growing up to be a woman in a time when blacks were despised severely.... Thebedi is a black girl and Paulus happens to be the son of her white masters.... ?? a poem by the famous patricia smith....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Literature of exile and imaginary homelands in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

He is born into the world of the narrative, but is also its creator, its parent.... This essay talks about Salman Rushdie's novels “Midnight's Children” and “The Satanic Verses”.... It describes a way of national identification which differs from the usual concept....
44 Pages (11000 words) Essay

The Role of the Black Woman in the Society

The following paper under the title 'The Role of the Black Woman in the Society' presents the works Country lovers a short story authored by Gordimer written in 1975, and the poem by Patricia Smith written in 1991, which is called “What it is to be a black girl”.... For instance, in the short story, there is a love relationship between Thebedi, a black woman, and Paulus, the son of the master of Thebedi.... She was a black woman, and the blacks were not allowed to inter-marry with the whites....
8 Pages (2000 words) Literature review

Female Body in High Fashion Advert

Hence, advertising could simply be defined as any form of the paid campaign through which the masses are introduced with some sponsor, company or its products and/or services with the purpose of increasing its sales volume and profit level for the company paying for the advertisement (Lamb et al....
25 Pages (6250 words) Case Study
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us