I Lost My Talk By Rita Joe Analysis

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In “I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe, the poem describes how her experiences at a Residential School attribute to her identity and empowerment through poetry that uses symbolism, imagery, and visual mental images to illustrate themes, white dominance, and empowerment. The poem is written in the point of view of an indigenous woman born in the time during the residential school crisis. This was a time when genocide was taking place, mothers separated from their children. Kids were segregated like it was 1957, in other words, the white 's were in their own educational system and the indigenous were forcefully put in schools to be assimilated of their raising. To be assimilated is to strenuously forget about your history, culture, language, and traditions. However, this can exclusively be executed by people of another culture or race for example against you. "When I was a little girl", is Rita describing how she was a helpless juvenile girl who can 't fight …show more content…

The symbolism and imagery show throughout the poem that with each stanza being written in a visual manner. The audience can easily picture a theme and feel the author’s remarkable use of emotions in her piece written with an advanced sense of sensibility. Rita Joe’s point of view is narrated by the summary of her experiences put into her piece of writing that established and showcased her empowering and strong personality. It is a reflective piece of writing that was delivered using symbolism, imagery, and visual mental images used to illustrate the theme of “ I Lost My Talk”.

Joe’s horrific history was filled with many hardships and obstacles in her life. The horrific information that she has expressed in only a few words. When she wrote: “I Lost My Talk”. Her point of view was stated in every line written with each providing a mental & visual image in the reader 's mind, giving the audience a taste of what she went through. ”The scrambled ballad, about my word”, which is Rita Joe’s childhood and adulthood,