The Family Celebrates Independence Poem Analysis

The poem “The Family Celebrates Independence” by Nickole Brown, explains what Brown’s family did during the Fourth of July. This relates to how families spend time together on this memorable day. This poem is a special way to introduce Brown’s family and talk about how they are alike with other families. In this poem, we learn about how Brown’s family got together on July Fourth and enjoyed the day together. Brown describes all the things a family would do at a Fourth of July party with family and friends. Some family members that you may not see often, a person tends to see them at the party. Each cousin, aunt, or uncles are doing their own thing at the party. They are either barbecuing or drinking. The family is getting along and then five minutes later they are complaining about something not important. For example, Brown says, “Do you think that mayonnaise might be carny by now? Well, pitch that shit before we all get sick; we only got one toilet here” (16-17). They are talking about how the mayonnaise might go bad and if they do everybody is going to have to go use the bathroom. At the house they are celebrating at, there is one toilet reminding them to eat it before it gets bad. This is your typical Fourth of July celebration.

Repetition is when a word or phrase has already been said and is repeated throughout, in this case the poem. Brown states, “ It’s the 4th” (1). She does not only say this in the first line, but throughout the poem. Before she starts to describe something at the party she says this phrase. She is explaining the significance of this day and what happened on that day with her family. Another literary device used is metaphor. Metaphor is when an object cannot do what the sentence is claiming. Brown says, “ Take him on in, that diapers ripe” (43). A diaper cannot be ripe. Brown is really saying that the baby pooped and needs to get its diaper changed because it is starting to