ipl-logo

Citizen An American Lyric By Claudia Rankine Summary

966 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Prejudice and discrimination in the us

This is a part of the poem from the book Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. The passage is about division among people, their loss of touch with nature and hostility. In modern society it’s kind of a norm and new trend being anti-social and guarded. People are prejudice and racist against each other and there are many frustrations and unfairness. The main focus of this particular poem is hostility and bitterness. It is displaying how one is mistreated, embarrassed and belittled. Simple because of the color of their skin. She did not even allow the person to introduce themselves. It is as if she is labeling every “black” person as being the same There is a feeling of a great disappointment, but at the same time there is irony because the main character is a trauma specialist and supposed to help by counseling and yet she is an unpleasant person. I believe the author didn’t identify the sex of the visitor she wanted to allow us to feel the situation as if we are the visitor even if we are male or female. The poem is showing Claudia’s point of view on prejudice and unfairness. It is depicted as a very strong and opinionated statement about this situation. The author addresses the readers; she refers to them as “YOU”. The reason for this is because she wants to place the reader …show more content…

It states “And though you back up a few steps, you manage to tell her you have an appointment. You have an appointment? she spits back. Then she pauses. Everything pauses. Oh, she says, followed by, oh, yes, that’s right. I am sorry” (9-10). The fact that there is a pause of everything suggests that the whole life stops. The therapist switches her position to the position of a neutral human being which is civilized, professional and articulated. I think it’s at that point she remembered her position in life. She looked pass the color of the individuals skin. She was now more focus on what she had to offer and how she can

Show More
Related
1770 Words | 8 Pages

Jeannette and her family are almost already the most poor family on the street. Because of this, Jeannette already doesn’t fit in the best around people and she didn’t want to be known as a “nigger lover” of the whole town. Throughout the town, there are two sides, people who like black people and talk to them or ones who don’t like them. There are two sides to

Read More
191 Words | 1 Pages

The fact that she is in color seems to show that she still has an imagination,that not everything in her life is black and white, but there is a little

Read More
1809 Words | 8 Pages

The different key features also plays an important role for example the tone that is being formed by the lyrical voice that can be seen as a nephew or niece. This specific poem is also seen as an exposition of what Judith Butler will call a ‘gender trouble’ and it consist of an ABBA rhyming pattern that makes the reading of the poem better to understand. The poem emphasizes feminist, gender and queer theories that explains the life of the past and modern women and how they are made to see the world they are supposed to live in. The main theories that will be discussed in this poem will be described while analyzing the poem and this will make the poem and the theories clear to the reader. Different principals of the Feminist Theory.

Read More
1333 Words | 6 Pages

On page 131 of Citizen, a white women and a racial minority have an interaction in which the women blatantly shows her rejection of him and shares a desire to stay clear away from him by not sitting next to him in an empty train cart. In this poem, Claudia Rankine explores the in depth aspect of

Read More
987 Words | 4 Pages

Moving on to line sixteen, the speaker says, “It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me” (Hughes 710). At the end of the line, the word “you” is being used, which would have the audience, us, to think that the speaker is talking to us personally. Since the poem is directed towards the instructor, the “you” the speaker is referring to towards the instructor, who then, also becomes a reader. In lines twenty-one to twenty-four, the reader is then introduced into the theme of the paper that the student is writing.

Read More
555 Words | 3 Pages

The story opens up with the writers first encounter of someone fearing him in public. And although it is purely off of race, his vivid description of himself portrays why she sadly felt that way, as stated “To her, the youngish black man – a broad six feet wo inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket – seemed menacingly close.” (Staples 188). He then goes on to describe his manner which is nothing like the stereotypical young black male, “As a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken – let alone hone to a person’s throat…” (Staples 189).

Read More
970 Words | 4 Pages

Ms. Gruwell, the teacher who was given the class she had never expected she’ll get – the class 306, the lowest class in the whole year. 306 had students who were separated because of their ethnicities, races, and color. Those were the students who experienced racism, poverty, and social injustice. Ms. Gruwell made each one of them write in the diary everyday and tell their story through the diary, and through that diary they all revealed their story. Every student's story had so much in common, most of them went through abuse, violence, poverty and molestation.

Read More
912 Words | 4 Pages

She asks people around her if they think she is black, or what color do they think she is. The result of playing this game is that she slowly takes on more and more of a white identity. She increasingly confused with who she is. She has to ask other people what whiteness is like. She is unable to figure it out herself, so she has to rely on the opinion of others.

Read More
631 Words | 3 Pages

It attempts to portray our country’s history of violence on black men throughout time. The play itself, takes place in one small room with four people attempting to portray an extremely complex story through four different time periods. In addition, it switches in between those time periods and the present moment of them in purgatory. The only way to depict those, is through the design. The first thing we notice, is the costumes which portray each character.

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

It’s detailed like a memory and provides the audience of just one incidence the narrator was able to recollect. The poem’s main focus is to take a little look into the disparity between traditional feminine

Read More
353 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the poem “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds, the narrator contrasts the perceived differences between two people of different races. In order to achieve this, she uses complex imagery and an accusatory tone to show her insight on how people judge based on appearances. She is acknowledging her white privilege throughout the entire poem by bringing to light the dark and light contrast between the two people. While reading the entire poem, the narrator is portrayed as a white female that is apprehensive to a fellow black male sitting on the subway. Sharon Olds incorporates the many contrasts between light and dark imagery in order to show what goes through this woman’s mind and her perceived thoughts on different races.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

She has been a stranger to herself for six years, not knowing about her racial identity. She had never thought of herself as black because she has lived with white people all her life. It takes is one photograph with her friends for her to find out her skin color. In the book it states, “Ah was wid dem white chillun so much till Ah didn’t know Ah wuzn’t white till Ah was round six years old. Wouldn’t have found it out then, but a man come long takin’ pictures and without askin’ anybody, Shelby, dat was de oldest boy, he told him to take us.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

In Desiree’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, the story deals with race issues and what a difference it makes in the lives of the characters. Although a person has no choice in what color their skin is, it makes a huge difference in their social class and how others treat them. Women had very little if any say so in their lives in even the smallest of matters. Women were at the mercy of the men in their families to make almost every decision for them and there were dire results if the men did not have their best interests at heart. The slaves had it the hardest of all because they had even less control over their lives and were even more venerable to the plantation owners and any free person.

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

Read More
1837 Words | 8 Pages

She realizes exactly what her place in society and that there is no freedom with men, further cementing men as a different species. No matter what

Read More

More about Citizen An American Lyric By Claudia Rankine Summary

Related Topics

Open Document