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Tone And Figurative Language In Countee Cullen's Incident

686 Words3 Pages

The poems “Tableau” and “Incident” were written by Countee Cullen, an African American poet in the early 1900s, who became famous during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. He was a poet famous for writing out against racism. In the poems “Tableau” and “Incident,” Cullen uses tone, figurative language, and theme to show the racial interaction between a black and white boy. Countee Cullen uses the tone and figurative language to develop the theme of the poems. The theme of the poem “Tableau” is unity and equality. This is shown in lines two and three when Cullen says the white boys are “The golden splendor of the day” and the black boys are “The sable pride of the night.” He means that the day is the white boys and the night is the black …show more content…

The tone of the poem “Tableau” is bold and careless. In lines nine and ten, Cullen says that the African American boy is “Oblivious to look and work/ They pass, and see no wonder.” The poet means that the white boys do not pay attention to the blacks walking along side them and do not realize the potential the black kids have. This connects to the theme because The tone of the poem “Incident” shifts throughout the poem. At the beginning of the poem the tone is hopeful and optimistic but, at the end of the poem the tone shifts to depressed and upset. Cullen says that his “Heart-filled, head-filled with glee” when he was in Baltimore (Cullen 2). But at the end of the poem, a white boy stuck out “His tongue, and called me, ‘Nigger” (Cullen 8). Cullen says that now all he remembers about Baltimore was that he was called a bad name. This proves that he is depressed and sad toward the end of the …show more content…

The poem “Tableau” shows imagery in line one, where they were “Locked arm in arm.../ The black boy and the white” walking together. Since they were walking together, the reader can imaging that scene in their mind, proving that this quote is an example of imagery. Imagery in the poem connects to the theme because it shows the impact and expressions. The poem “Incident” shows diction because Countee Cullen uses words such as “riding… glee… [and] whit” to describe his racial interaction (Cullen 1,2,6). The word choice relates to the theme because the poet uses impactful words to let the reader understand the situation the poet is

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