English Yusef Komunyakaa

Everyday, someone experiences the loss of a family member or friend.This loss impacts everyone differently. All of us have or will experience the loss of someone close. Some individuals experience intense grief, whereas others are able to move on easily. The poem “English” by Yusef Komunyakaa explores the perspective of a boy who befriends a girl who is later shot to death by soldiers. “English” explores events that occur before the girl’s death. The poem “While I Slept” by Robert Francis explores the narrator’s experience of loss. “English” shares the story of someone living in the time of the Nazis whereas “While I Slept” has no specified time. This makes me think of how humanity is connected through the fact that the loss of someone close
In “English”, the narrator meets a girl who impacts him during and after their time together. On hearing the voice of the girl, the narrator describes her voice as, “almost America” (Komunyakaa 13). This is his way of saying that what he hears is a representation of the girl’s freedom away from the violence and persecution by German soldiers in Poland. The fact that this is freedom away from German soldiers in Poland is shown when the boy finds the girl, “I eased open the door hidden behind overcoats in a closet.” (Komunyakaa 16). This indicates the girl is hidden. In addition, the author’s inclusion of the term, “Vistula” (Komunyakaa 34) indicates that the events occur in Poland. The narrator states, “She said, Friend.” (Komunyakaa 15). The word “friend” has its first letter capitalized to indicate its significance. This is important because the narrator may have considered the girl his friend, or it may have been the only word he understood from her. We consider friends that we trust and learn from. The girl teaches him English while she also learns English to escape to safety, “She was teaching herself a language/ to take her far, far away,/ & she taught me a word each day to keep secret.” (Komunyakaa 18-20). This is important because while the girl is in the narrator’s life, she has a positive impact on him. She begins his education in learning English. The girl impacts him even after she is
This is because the authors are trying to convey the message that we all have someone in our lives who impacts us positively while they are alive and losing them impacts us positively or negatively, from the moment they are gone to possibly the rest of our lives. The name of the person that impacts them does not matter to us. It matters to them. Likewise, the name of the people that impact us do not matter to the rest of the world. They only matter to you and a few other people. We are all nobodies to the world but somebodies to