Language Techniques In Yusef Komunyakaa's

Belonging is a sense of fitting in or feeling like you are an important member of a group. In Yusf Komunyakaa's ¨Slam, Dunk, Hook¨, Emily Dickinson's ¨I Am Nobody, Who Are You?¨, and Judith Ortiz's ¨Abuela Invents The Zero¨ the narrators all made choices that show that people have a response to belonging. These three texts use different types of language techniques to demonstrate how your identity is determined by the groups we belong in.
Yusf Komunyakaa uses allusions in “Slam, Dunk, Hook” to show how the basketball team felt like they belonged together when they were playing. He describes the team's aggressive and beautiful defense by comparing their bodies to a maze. “In the roundhouse Labyrinth our bodies Created.” This quote is from Lines

The author identifies herself and the reader as being ¨nobodys.¨ ¨I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you –Nobody –too?¨ this quote is from Lines 1-2 of the poem. The author draws attention to the words ¨you¨ and ¨two¨ by making them rhyme. This rhyming pair of words shows that she's excited to have found someone else that also finds comfort in being nobody instead of wanting to be somebody. The author identifies being somebody by comparing it to a frog and a bog. “How public –like a Frog – To an admiring Bog!” This quote was found in lines 6 & 8 of the poem. The author draws attention to the words ¨frog¨ and ¨bog¨ by making them rhyme. The 2 rhyming words show frogs as being public and everybody wanting to touch them. And a bog as being boring and just empty. This poem was written to show the author's opinion of being somebody compared to being a

In the story, Abuela doesn't feel like she belongs in new jersey until she is with her family. In the story, it states “Once home, she refuses to let my mother buy her a coat because it’s a waste of money for the two weeks she’ll be in el Polo Norte, as she calls New Jersey, the North Pole.” this was found in Paragraph 4. New Jersey is a foreign place to Connie's grandmother. She didn't feel that she belonged until she had her family with her which made her feel a sense of belonging. She knows that there will be connections throughout her family that are stronger than most relationships with friends. In the story, Connie does not help Abuela back to the pew leaving her completely embarrassed. In the story, it states “Then Abuela points her finger at me like a judge passing a sentence on a criminal. She says in Spanish, “You made me feel like a zero, like a nothing.” This quote was found in Paragraph 16. The only reason why Abuela cared about this situation was because her own granddaughter didn't help her after all she has done for their family. In conclusion Relationships in our families are reflected through our identity. Judith Ortiz Cofer uses figurative language to portray identity through family