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Enjambment In June Jordan's Poem About My Rights

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People should become unmorphed, unaffected, immovable by the world’s societal norms and perspectives, so that they may become… great. This can be related to June Jordan’s “Poem About My Rights” as she is consistently treated as if her character is incorrect: her sex, her age, her skin. However, Jordan’s use of diction and enjambment demonstrates that regardless of how individuals are perceived by society, he/she should not try to change just for the sake of conformity. The word choice and tone of the author assists readers to comprehend that there is nothing invalid about demonstrating your personality. An instance of this is revealed as the speaker wonders “who in the hell set things up like this… that if he and his buddies fuck me after …show more content…

For example, as the author states how the problems of the “teachers and the preachers and the FBI… turn out to be me”, she realizes that she “can tell you that from now on [her] resistance [her] simple and daily and nightly self-determination may very well cost you your life.” (line 71/line 72/line 75/line 76/line 112/line 113/line 114) The author’s use of enjambment for the singular word ‘me’ helps readers understand that she realizes that others perceive her as a problem, but her determination is powerful (which can be taken from the author as she uses enjambment for the phrase ‘may very well cost you your life’). If you had a superpower that gave you extraordinary capabilities, but everyone else thought you were weird because of them would you try to get rid of these fascinations? The author's superpower was her determination and through her threatening tone revealed through her enjambment, readers can understand that her determination made her powerful so she didn't change herself. It didn't matter what other people- like her teachers and preachers- thought, because their perceived problems were actually her empowerment. So why should anyone attempt to corrupt this power just because of another’s views? That’d be dangerously pointless. Therefore, individuals should embrace their fascinations and not change what others falsely believe to be

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