Cooduvalli Introduction
Poems about personal identity that are connected through collective history
The world is made up of more than 150 countries, each with their own unique cultures and traditions. Likewise, writing and language are concepts found throughout the world using different mediums and characters. Each realm of the world has its own collection of rich history and artifacts that shape places and people into who they are.
For my poetry exhibit, I chose to encapsulate a wide variety of poems that can be brought together by their common theme of poems that connect personal identity with collective history. What this means is that each one of these poems has to do with an instance in history which has shaped the personal identity of the author. In an attempt to showcase the widest variety of cultures, I chose well known 20th century authors who hailed from different regional and ethnic backgrounds such as Mexican, Native American, African American, Indian, and Jewish. Another thing to note is out of the six poets, two are female while the other four are male.
To start off the exhibit, I have a poem called The X in My Name written by, Mexican-American author, Francisco X. Alarcon. This poem takes the long history of having illiterate people sign their name with an X on the line, instead of their actual name. This poem expands the meaning of that historic practice while also giving a voice to all the unheard illiterate people of the time. The next poem I chose to include in my exhibit is called Indigo and it was written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a well-known Indian poet. In her poem, Divakaruni looks to the historic exploitation by the British East India Company on its workers and shares a poem about the tragic sentiments the workers carried with them until the revolt.
Theme for English B by Langston Hughes and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou are the two poems I chose to showcase the different types of historical events that shaped the African American community during the 20th century. Theme for English B is shaped by Jim Crowe Laws at the time and how they affected the personal identity of the speaker of the poem. Still I Rise fits into this category because the speaker in the poem shares all the negative things that have occurred in history that have tried to oppress black women and how all of those acts have shaped her into a confident character.
Brian Childers was a poet who wrote about the Native American culture and identity. In his poem The Trail of Tears, Childers presents the audience with a very heartfelt narrative poem about walking the Trail of Tears, a significant event in Cherokee Indian history. By expressing his feelings, Childers shows the audience his personal identity and how it became shaped through events his ancestors took part in. The final poem I chose is called The Shrine Whose Shape I Am written by Samuel Menashe. Menashe’s work is focused around events of the Bible which have shaped his Jewish heritage and culture.
All poems can be connected in some manner, and for this exhibit I chose personal identity poems because they seem the most authentic to me. They come from the heart of the author about some event that has played a key role in the development of their character.
The world is made up of more than 150 countries, each with their own unique cultures and traditions. Likewise, writing and language are concepts found throughout the world using different mediums and characters. Each realm of the world has its own collection of rich history and artifacts that shape places and people into who they are.
For my poetry exhibit, I chose to encapsulate a wide variety of poems that can be brought together by their common theme of poems that connect personal identity with collective history. What this means is that each one of these poems has to do with an instance in history which has shaped the personal identity of the author. In an attempt to showcase the widest variety of cultures, I chose well known 20th century authors who hailed from different regional and ethnic backgrounds such as Mexican, Native American, African American, Indian, and Jewish. Another thing to note is out of the six poets, two are female while the other four are male.
To start off the exhibit, I have a poem called The X in My Name written by, Mexican-American author, Francisco X. Alarcon. This poem takes the long history of having illiterate people sign their name with an X on the line, instead of their actual name. This poem expands the meaning of that historic practice while also giving a voice to all the unheard illiterate people of the time. The next poem I chose to include in my exhibit is called Indigo and it was written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a well-known Indian poet. In her poem, Divakaruni looks to the historic exploitation by the British East India Company on its workers and shares a poem about the tragic sentiments the workers carried with them until the revolt.
Theme for English B by Langston Hughes and Still I Rise by Maya Angelou are the two poems I chose to showcase the different types of historical events that shaped the African American community during the 20th century. Theme for English B is shaped by Jim Crowe Laws at the time and how they affected the personal identity of the speaker of the poem. Still I Rise fits into this category because the speaker in the poem shares all the negative things that have occurred in history that have tried to oppress black women and how all of those acts have shaped her into a confident character.
Brian Childers was a poet who wrote about the Native American culture and identity. In his poem The Trail of Tears, Childers presents the audience with a very heartfelt narrative poem about walking the Trail of Tears, a significant event in Cherokee Indian history. By expressing his feelings, Childers shows the audience his personal identity and how it became shaped through events his ancestors took part in. The final poem I chose is called The Shrine Whose Shape I Am written by Samuel Menashe. Menashe’s work is focused around events of the Bible which have shaped his Jewish heritage and culture.
All poems can be connected in some manner, and for this exhibit I chose personal identity poems because they seem the most authentic to me. They come from the heart of the author about some event that has played a key role in the development of their character.
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