Exploring the Main Characters in Five Poems of Distinct Cultures Coursework

Exploring the Main Characters in Five Poems of Distinct Cultures - Coursework Example Basically, the poem depicts the issue of color which is a common theme on the majority of literary works by Hughes and a tone that suggests racial inequality that forms through the confession of the â€Å"darker brother†. The adverb â€Å"too† signifies inclusion which connotes something missing or only part of the American population, more specifically the supreme race, are entitled to so in a way, the speaker appeals for equal rights of living with the white people of America. â€Å"I, too† presents a type of protagonist who struggles to adapt to his mistreating environment where he is often brought to â€Å"eat in the kitchen† upon the arrival of the company which could be the greater authority or the race in command. Despite such unfavorable circumstances, however, the black narrator hopes to keep up a good fight which the line â€Å"They’ll see how beautiful I am† reflects so that he may be justified to conclude â€Å"I, too, am America .† Repetition of â€Å"I† and â€Å"too† opens and closes the poem, respectively, and Hughes establishes metaphor in rendering the speaker to claim on ending with a patriotic pitch that he is America. As a Guyanese poet, on the other hand, Grace Nichols believes that Caribbean rhythms connect her sense of spirituality in Africa to all other cultures of the East and the West. This can be well recognized in her work â€Å"Praise Song for My Mother† which primarily characterizes her coastal life as applied to the maternal sentiments she uniquely identifies her mother with. Through a series of enjambment which normally appear on the beginning of each stanza under a nostalgic tone, Nichols makes her mother the central figure of the metaphors which she utilizes in comparing Caribbean attributes with the relevant traits possessed by her mother. The use of water, moon’s eye, and sunrise is elemental then the speaker, in the second-person point of view, elaborates the basic details with extended metaphors in order for the reader to understand how special and affectionate parenting is experienced during the childhood days of the poet. Essentially, Nichols likens her motherâ₠¬â„¢s care to the general life in the coast where almost all natural resources by which to sustain one’s living exist just as everything a child needs is with the loving mother’s safekeeping. Such is evident in â€Å"deep and bold and fathoming† which is quite symbolic of qualities a mother’s goodness has as well as â€Å"rise and warm and streaming† in reference to the characteristics of blood and milk all mothers share in common. With repetition of the word â€Å"replenishing† after enumeration with fishes, flamer’s tree, and crab’s leg, Nichols puts a stress on her encounter of abundance with the coast which does not occur to run out of life’s fundamental necessities just like a mother’s love and patience that altogether endures with time. â€Å"Island Man† is another piece which Grace Nichols fashions in the absence of punctuations throughout the poem’s structure. One may feel that the poetâ€⠄¢s attempt with enjambment has to do with the substance of her chosen subject which is hugely associated to Caribbean features involving seas and waves representing expanse and forms that are typically free and unbounded in nature. On this ground, thus, Nichols prefers not to punctuate in discussing