Poetry Analysis

1. Poetry Analysis By: Xavier Johnson Class: English9

2. “They will never break me” (Bullying) By: Lamont Carey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5I9QS9UhMb Spoken word poem

3. Lamont Cary • From listening to some of his poems I have realizes that in school he could play basket ball and that is why his teachers pasted him on. He also was bullied in school because he did not have the nicest clothes and playing basketball he could get him and his family out of the poor part of town.

4. “They’ll never break me” (Bullying) This spoken word poem about bullying and what happens on both sides of bulling and what they think.it makes people think well if they can’t afford it than why do I make them feel even worse. I should be trying to lift them up instead of tiring them down. It is also about how to deal with bullying and what to do. I chose this poem because when people pick on me I say in my head “they will never break me”. The figurative language use is imagery and flashback . He uses imagery when he describes the pain he feels and what he sees. He uses flash backs to tell his story of when he was bulled. I saw when he said “I remember walking down the hall in school”. when he said “I can see there hated for me in there eyes” I see an angry face.

5. Poetry Analysis

6. James Weldon Johnson • Born: June 17,1871 - Jacksonville, Florida • Died: June 26,1938 - Wiscasset, Maine • He was a: - civil rights activist - writer - composer - politician • Education: Atlanta University • Well known for - Newspaper: The daily American - The black national anthem “Lift every voice and sing “

7. Lift Every Voice and Sing James Weldon Johnson was born in 1871 in Jacksonville, FL. He was civil rights activist and a writer. He wrote the black national anthem “Lift every voice and sing” . He also had his own news paper “The daily American”. This poem is about someone of a group of people the has faith that the time that they are in will soon end. They are marching for what they believe in and that believe that they should be free. This poem was written during slavery times and the slaves are singing about wanting to be free. This is a lyric poem because it is a song. The figurative language that is used is simile. The similes are used to described there actions.

8. Counee Cullen • Born: May 30, 1903 - Louisville, Kentucky • Died: January 9,1946 - New York, New York • He was: - Novelist - Play writer - Children book writer • Known for: - being recognized by his high school years

9. Yet do I Marvel Counee Cullen was born in 1903 and died in 1946. He was a novelist play and children book writer. He was recognized during his high school years for writing poems. This poem is about temptations of different things. In line 2 it said that the person we see in the mirror will soon die and a new person will rise from the temptations. I choose this poem because it has told me that I should reject temptation and just be me. The figurative language use is symbolism. He uses it to compare us to animals by showing us there different temptations.

10. Maya Angelou • Born: April 4,1928 - St. Louis, Missouri • She is: -Author - actress - dancer - poet • Well known: - recited On the Pules of Morning” at Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993 - Her memo “I know why the Caged Bird Sings”

11. Still I Rise Maya Angelou was born in 1928 and she is still alive today. She is a performer and a poet. She is well known for her memo “I know why the Caged Bird sings”. She also has met opera and recited a poem at the inauguration of Bill Clinton. This poem is about someone who is trying to take her down because she made something of her self. They are trying to slander her name and what she does. She shows that it does not bothers her. This is a free verse poem. It has no specific pattern or no specific rhyme. I choose this poem because the title sounds inspiring. It brings a sense of I can do this and makes me want to be me

12. Tupac Amaru Shakar • Born: June 16,1971 - New York, New York • Died: September 13,1996 - Las Vegas, Nevada • He was: - actor - Rapper • Education: -Paul Laurence Dunbar High school - Baltimore School for the arts • Well known: - Rapping

13. In the event of my Demise Tupac was born in 1971and died in 1996. He grow to became a rapper and an actor. He rapped about the hardships about growing up I the “ghetto” and the hardships he went through. This poem is about him dying early. He feels that he will not be able to do something that he wanted . I choose to do this poem because the title is “In the event of my demise” and to me I feel that this means that someone is coming to take someone out. this is a lyric poem because he is a rapper and it can turn in to a song. The figurative language in this poem is the actual words the words he uses means different things. “Wiped the Last Tear from my eyes” this means that he mite be sad.

14. Rudyard Kipling • Born: December 30, 1865 - Bombay, India • Died: January 18, 1936- Middlesex hospital, London, England • Educated in England • Well known for:-Writing the Jungle book - highest paid writer - Recipient for Noble Prize for literature (1907)

15. IF Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865 and died 1936. He was educated in England. He is well known for writing “The Jungle Book” and he was the highest paid poet. This is a free verse poem. This poem is about being a man and what to do in this world. To be a man you have to go through many different things and not letting it change you. You have to keep calm and be the person that you feel that you should be and not any one else. I really like this poem and plan to apply it in my life as I grow up. He uses figurative language in stanza 1 the 5,6,and 7 lines to represent temptation. He use repletion in stanza 2 because it tells you what not to do.