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
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Yusef Komunyakaa has spent decades fighting. With a life spanning the Harlem Renaissance‚ the Civil Rights Movement‚ and the Vietnam War‚ he is no stranger to turmoil. Growing up in a small‚ segregated Louisiana town dominated by the Klu Klux Clan‚ many of Komunyakaa’s poems express a need for escape. However‚ his poems also share a theme of perseverance. The poems “Slam Dunk & Hook”‚ “Ode to a Drum” and “Venus Flytrap”‚ show not only Komunyakaa’s unique style of writing‚ but his encompassing theme
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other various prizes and awards from prestigious foundations. He was compared to poets such as T.S. Eliot‚ William Carlos Williams‚ and Langston Hughes. You may ask‚ who am I talking about. Yusef Komunyakaa. Born on April 29‚ 1947‚ in Bogalusa‚ Louisiana‚ Yusef Komunyakaa is the oldest of 5 children. Komunyakaa is a very culture oriented poet. He is known by his short lines‚ simple diction‚ jazzy rhythm and feel‚ and his rootedness in past experiences of growing up in the American South and being
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Facing It‚" by Yusef Komunyakaa talks about a war which most‚ if not all Americans are familiar with. The ever so controversial Vietnam Conflict‚ also known as the Vietnam War. This poem was very well written‚ and I respect all that was said in the context of the poem. "Facing It‚" discusses his visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.‚ and his emotions that he experienced while he was at the memorial. I can not imagine what the feelings would be like to see one of my friend ’s name etched
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story shows how things affect you life when you have an imbalance between a want and need. ”She gazed at her little brother’s june bugs pinned to a sheet of cork‚ assaying their glimmer‚ till she buried them beneath a fig tree’s wide‚ green skirt”( Komunyakaa‚ 433). When you lose the ability to see what you need and want you often become jealous of what others want and in the girl’s case in Avarice she became jealous and took someone else’s things so that she could have them instead. Seeing someone else
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Yusef Komunyakaa is a Black American poet who currently teaches at New York University. Yusef rose from being the son of a carpenter to becoming one of the most extraordinary poets writing today. In 1947‚ the eldest of five children James William Brown was born in a small town of Bogalusa‚ Louisiana. He would later grow up and reclaim the name Komunyakaa his grandfather had once lost as a stowaway in a ship from Trinidad. He was raised during the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. He served
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Just like every other war‚ the Vietnam War was a tragic age where blood was spilled and sorrow filled the hearts of people from both sides of the battlefield. Yusef Komunyakaa was one of the many who mourned over lost loves and friends. His poem describes the heartache he encounters as he visits the memorial for all the lives that were lost. Post-traumatic memories flood him all at once and he envisions some of the slain veterans and citizens reflecting in the wall of names. He is bitter at the
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veteran‚ Yusef Komunyakaa‚ who visited the Vietnam War Memorial fifteen years after his service. Although this poem focuses specifically on Komunyakaa’s trauma from war‚ it can resonate with anyone who has experienced a traumatic event. In “Facing It”‚ Yusef Komunyakaa describes his encounter with facing the past to illustrate the physical and emotional effects of trauma. The author of this poem‚ Yusef Komunyakaa‚ contributed to this interview‚ explaining
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Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Facing It” describes a Vietnam War veteran’s painful experience of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington‚ D.C. In his poem I couldn’t help but be impressed by its vivid imagery. Reading the lines‚ Komunyakaa makes it so easy to envision what he describes. It makes me feel like I’m there. Through the use of vivid imagery‚ Yusef Komunyakaa shows the veterans’ response to the Vietnam War memorial by using both literal and figurative illustrations. Literally
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a young boy is ambivalent between hope and reality after merely picking berries. The poem "Blackberries" by Yusef Komunyakaa‚ published in 1992‚ illustrates the author’s childhood experience in a candid yet heartbreaking image. Komunyakaa frankly describes his struggle growing up; additionally during a specific day picking blackberries to raise money in hopes of a better future Komunyakaa is painfully reminded of his less fortunate beginnings. Through a series of allusions and metaphors‚ Komunyakaa’s
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