- Apr 2024
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smu.instructure.com smu.instructure.com
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Even the ice cubes shy away from her. This can be interpreted as a message of fear, caution, or discomfort with something new or rare. Leads to everyone shifting in their seats again establishing either discomfort or fascination in observance.(lines 16-20)
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Lolo seems to have a mysterious and powerful presence (throughout poem, specifically lines 10-16)
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Constantly not finishing the sentence on the line or even the stanza that it began. Lends to focus on the last word. (lines 2,6,10,etc.)
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Contradicting ideas (rare, unique; yet unwanted (lines 1-2)
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Following the contradicting theme, lines 2-4 establish a sense of avoidance in the presence of intrigue.
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www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
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black
Repetition
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black
Repetition
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In the black mirror a woman’s trying to erase names: No, she's brushing a boy's hair.
Unsure of the meaning of this. This could show the uncontrollable condition of death and the impact of war when it is viewed as trying to erase names, when it could have been a woman comforting her child who lost their father or relative etc.
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I go down the 58,022 names58,022 names The number of names of dead soldiers etched on the wall at the time of Komunyakaa’s composing of this poem. As of 2009, there are now 58,261 names listed on the Memorial, of which, approximately 1,200 are listed as missing in action (MIAs) or prisoners of war (POWs).,
Symbolism. All the names etched into the granite resembles the weight of war, trauma, and loss.
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the profile of night slanted against morning
Imagery
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clouded reflection
imagery
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I'm stone. I'm flesh.
Creates a theme of the narrator feeling/seeming inhuman. Loss of self.
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My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite
Identity seems to fade with trauma and difficulty separating identity from past traumas in war
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Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's wings cutting across my stare.
Imagery
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I see the booby trap's white flash. Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
Trauma and memory theme from ptsd
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