Culturally Poetic

cultur each(prenominal)y Poetic ethnic individuality is the collective per passwordality of a pack usually associated with a certain group or culture, or that of an individualistic in relation to certain behavior, thoughts, and influences. (Central Michigan University) These mental pictures and sh atomic number 18d characteristics allow a group to establish a common ground and in second make them unique to others. A ethnical indistinguishability may be national, ethnic, or even generational. Our identity is based upon our differences when comp ard to other groups.Cultural identity is essentially defined by differences rather than likenesses to others. The identifi qualified-bodied aspects of culture are historical, linguistic, and mental. These three factors may in addition be found in poetry and are related to the views that an author wishes to express. In my essay, I will try come on to identify elements of culture in the hobby metrical compositions thug, What its a nalogous to Be a Black Girl, Self-Pitys press, rite of Passage, and The Panther, In Martin Espadas verse, Bully cultural identity is unequivocal throughout the length of the rime.The verse is introduced by route of location, the fourth dimension period, and the year, In the school auditorium / the Theodore Roosevelt statue / is nostalgic for the Spanish American War (713). The poet themes on the face of it focus on change within American society. This theme is observably identificapable in the following stanza But now the Roosevelt school is enounce Hernandez. Puerto Rico has invaded Roosevelt with its army of Spanish-singing children in the hall itinerarys, br receive children devouring the stockpiles of the cafeteria, children painting Taino ancestors that jump out naked across murals. 714) Espada effectively provides contrast amid Roosevelts belief of ethnocentrism and the invasion of the Spanish colonies by comparing the immigration of Puerto Rican families in a 1987 Boston, Massachusetts. At the poems ending we are able to see to it a revenge of sorts with the children now invading Roosevelt himself. The following stanza is irony at its best and brings the element of culture and change to the forefront, Roosevelt is surrounded by all the faces he ever shoved in eugenic spite and cursed as mongrels, skin of one race, hair and cheekbones of another. (714)This bit of irony is representative of the fact that change in one character reference experienced on the island of Puerto Rico now likewise is prevalent within America. Roosevelt is declared the bully by his conquest and those that were once without power are now empowered through change and assimilation. This poem uses historical factors to establish a cultural identity. Patricia Smiths, What its standardized to Be a Black Girl (for Those of You Who Arent) approaches the idea of a quite a littlecast girl becoming a woman at a sequence when race matters were still prevalent. The author b egins with a direct plainly communion like tone to denote the importance of what is being impartedFirst of all, its being 9 years old and/ purport like youre not finished, like your edges are wild, like theres something, boththing, impairment(672) The theme here is puberty based changes that takes place according to a black girl. The girl feels incomplete because her body is experiencing changes. Smith goes on to answer for the girls desire to fit into society by wanting to have the physical traits of a white woman. The unexampled girl is displease with being black and seeks to change her appearance its dropping diet coloring In your eyes to make them blue and suffering Their curve in silence.Its popping a bleached White mophead everywhere the kinks of your hair and primping in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection(672) She goes on to describe the Black Power Movement and the Motown era by mentioning its flame and fists and life according to Motown. As a blosso ming young girl approaching womanhood she uncoverings it not only difficult to start a woman, only if a black woman. Finally, the girl looks forward to every womans dream of becoming a bride. This is evidenced in the final three lines its finally having a man annoy out for you/then caving in/around his fingers. The girl anticipates a complete transition when she will become married. This poem uses mental aspects to form cultural identity during a time or racial tension. Michelle Boisseaus, Self-Pitys Closet focuses on the way that society views beauty, self-image, and self-confidence. Boisseau uses figurative speech, imagery, and distinguishd sounds throughout the poem to bring light to a poor self image. The theme of this poem is equated to as the poem states self-pity. What manifestly appears as others judging us blinds us to the fact that we judge ourselves far worse than others would.The closet so to tattle is within the individual feelings of Depression, loneliness, anger , shame, envy (999) are the basis of self-pity. Feelings of self-loathing and self-hurt are evident in the following lines after your vast and painful declarations subtle humiliations crawling up like the smell of wet upholstery, dial tone in the brain, the conviction that your friends never really loved you(1000) The author seeks to express an privileged fight a person opposes with when worried about the way others perceive them. The narrator uses the words, dial tone in the brain to describe a continuous mode of embarrassment within herself.She is unable to part with a feeling of inadequacy and is therefore trapped by her very own self pity. This poem uses mental aspects by associating self-pity with not being able to identify with the status quo of our cultural identity. In Sharon Oldss, observance of Passage a mother examines the behavior of her son and his friend during his birthday party. The title of the poem allows the reader to relate the rite of passage being the journ ey that her son will take toward manhood. Male maturity is the theme of the poem. What makes the poem humorous is her ability to view them as men though they are but six and seven years old.The following lines are quite thinkable to any mother noticing the machismo nature of young boys As the guests arrive at my sons party they gather in the living style short men, men in first grade with smooth jaws and chins. work force in pockets, they stand around jostling, jockeying for place, small fights breaking out and calming. wizard says to another How old are you? Six. Im seven. So? (811) In the last line we experience a typical conversation between two boys that are likely sizing each other up the six year old responds to the seven year old So? The mother then goes onto visualizing the boys as men with careers by stating, They clear their/throats a lot, a room of small bankers/they fold their arms and frown matchless cannot help but to envision the boys as men at a table matching wits at an older age. The birthday boy as if chairman of the bank settles the dispute between his friends in the following lines speaks up as a host/for the sake of the group. /We could easily vote out a two-year old,/he says in his clear voice. The group agrees and the children reelect to playing or as the mother describes, they relax and get down to playing war, celebrating my sons life. Just as Smiths What its Like to Be a Black Girl cogitate on a girl approaching maturity so did Olds Rite of Passage. Olds uses mature language and terms to equate the behavior expressed by the boys as being their way of coming into manhood. The boys feel a fatality to intimidate each other with physical threats which showcases their immaturity on their way to adulthood. This poem identifies with the culturally defined behavior of a male having to take the stand he is a man. In Rainier Rilkes poem The Panther the poet uses the cougar a wild animal to express personification and similes to express confinement.An axiomatic reason for the jaguar being the subject is because its color represents a seemingly unnoticeable nature and contributes to the poems tone. A panther is also known to be a solitary creature that stakes out its prey. The use of the panther represents a theme of entrapment that most readers are able to identify with. The panthers discontentment and longing to be forfeit from his troubles is expressed as the cages interdict. He has become so accustomed to seeing the bars that he no longer sees anything but what appears directly in front of him it is as if he has lost himself. The panthers desperation in a sense mirrors human personality.Rilkes offers her interpretation of this poetically by saying, His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars and behind the bars, no world. (674) Rilkes makes us aware that although the panther is limit we are still able to see its power and its beauty. Though caged he is still himself though he feels paralyzed by the cage this feeling is interpreted in the following lines, As he paces in secure circles, over and over/the movement of his powerful soft strides/is like a ritual dance around a center/in which a mighty will stands paralyzed. The idea of confinement is relatable to a prisoner or anyone trapped in a situation with seemingly no way out. The panther yearns for more and this is evidenced by his pacing and boredom with his life. In the end the panther has lost his soul and his excitement is reduced to the fountain of his eyes ever so slightly. It seems that the panther takes his final glance that touches him deep down to the point his body becomes tense and his heart is excited for a discriminate second until he realizes his situation and no longer bothers to react. This idea is hale expressed in the final stanza.Only at times, the curtain of the pupils lifts, gently. An image enters in , rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone. Rilke in The Panther and Boisseau in her Self-Pitys Closet both convey the message of an inner struggle within their subjects. The poems are able to speak to the reader on a personal level and make the bear onion of human emotion with their dark but personal nature. The Panther embodied a feeling of fatigue and surrender that human often time encounter in not one but within all societies and cultures.Often times we find ourselves staying within the box or the status quo instead of stepping outside of the box-in this case the cage. In comparison, the five poems that I have chosen to review are full of impact and take on a deeper meaning. They touch on outward appearances as well as inner feelings. They were all able to bring out identifiable aspects that we are all able to connect with through either personal or secondary experiences. In contrast, Bully came from a historical standpoint, while W hat its Like to Be a Black Girl and Rite of Passage focused on what is authoritative by society.Lastly, Self-Pitys Closet and The Panther dealt with inner struggles and the way that we move to view ourselves when we take an inner look. Works Cited Central Michigan University. Cultural Identity as an Instrument. 8 May 2006. 3 November 2009 . Boisseau, Michelle. Self Pitys Closet. Mayer, Michael. The roll up Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 999-1000. Espada, Martin. Bully. Mayer, Michael. The constrict Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 713-714. Olds, Sharon. Rite of Passage. Mayer, Michael. The stocky Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 811-812. Rilke, Rainier Maria. The Panther. Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 674. Smith, Patricia. What Its Like to Be a Black Girl. Mayer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Bedf ord/St. Martins, 2009. 672-73