Experiment #2 | website

Experiment 2

Proposal

For my next experiment, I am going to start off by writing a poem about my experience as an African-American girl attending schools that are predominantly white. I intend to focus on my experience at a private elementary school because that was the time that I started realizing people’s differences, primarily in terms of race. I think it is important to highlight moments like these because when you are a kid, you don’t necessarily notice and analyze everything that goes on around you until you are older. I believe that these experiences influenced me in ways that were not very positive in the beginning, but ultimately made me stronger and more proud of who I am today.

I plan to write my poem in chronological order of my experience from being in elementary school up to now and how I’ve grown from it. I think that doing it this way will make it more difficult for me because I have to find a way to format my piece so that it isn’t just me simply reiterating what happened, but it will be easier for my audience to follow what happened if the poem is easier understand in that order. Incorporating elements such as questions into my piece as well as abstract, and unexpected elements will help to maintain a reader’s attention.

My poem is going to be a free verse poem which is a type of poem in which there are no specific rules I am following. I think that the more creative agency I have, the better. With this, I will be able to paint a picture of myself and my experience with enough detail and unique elements to get my message across.

Additionally, if I choose this as my final project, I am going to write 3-4 more poems about either other personal experiences of mine, or about other’s experiences after interviewing them.

Genre Analysis

Since I am writing a free verse poem, I am not basing the form on a specific poem’s format, so when looking at models to go off, my focus is on the topics of the poems and how they are relayed to the reader. These models could be poems and anything else that I think will help inspire my writing.

The first piece that inspires me to write my poem is a book by Toni Morrison called The Bluest Eye. I read this book in high school, and I enjoyed this book so much that I chose that it to be the basis of an essay I wrote for my English class in high school. The book is about a young black girl growing up in the 1940s and how she struggles because of her skin color. The way she is treated and bullied by others ultimately makes her envy white people and people with lighter skin tone. Although my experiences were not the same as and were not as extreme as the main character, Pecola’s, I still relate to how she felt, and can understand why as a young girl, her experiences had such as big impact on her self-esteem and self-worth. A major theme in the book, confidence, or lack thereof is a result of being an African-American girl and being teased and not fitting in. A large portion of my poem is going to explore this issue.

In addition, poems by Maya Angelou such as “Still I Rise” inspire me when it comes to the more positive portion of my poem in which I will talk about how I grew from my experiences. Also, a lot of her poems are about oppression and the struggles of being black and being a woman. The unique way in which she talks about these issues and overcoming them are beneficial to me when brainstorming how I am going to paint my own picture about my experience and my reflection on that experience. For example in one of Angelou’s poems titled “Phenomenal Woman” she makes her poem more powerful by saying simple phrases, but leaving them by themselves to keep her point.

Here is an example:

It’s the fire in my eyes, /

And the flash of my teeth, /

The swing in my waist, /

And the joy in my feet. /

I’m a woman /

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman, /

That’s me.

Sketch

I intend for my poem to go in chronological order so I can tell the story of how I developed as person from my experience. The first poem which I intend to be the first out of the group of poems, would be about 2 pages, and maybe a bit longer if I decide that I need more detail. The first half will be about the more negative parts of my experience, and then lead into how I grew from it. In addition to this, I can continue to write poetry about more of my life experiences or others. At the end I would have 3-4 poems in total and can add to it on my e-portfolio over time.

As I am writing a free verse poem, there is not a specific order or format I have to write my poems in, however I can give a general idea.

Poem #1
- Start off talking about childhood (7-10) years old and the struggles I had growing up in schools where not many people looked like me and I got teased for my hair.
- Also talk about treatment from teachers and how I did not realize the subtle problems.
- Continue on with me being older in middle and high school and how I saw myself as time passed
- Jump to now

Poem #2 possibility
- Since exp. 1 was so well liked, I could turn that into a poem with lots imagery and powerful techniques to depict my Grandfather’s life in the West Indies
Poem # 3 possibility
- My relationships, first time going to Europe,

Poem #4
- Interview a friend about the most important part of their life so far, or to describe anything along those lines. Including scenery, smell, sound
- I can take that and turn it into a poem

Sample

Why did my dolls have to look like me?

Even if my mommy explained it,

I would not understand.

Weren’t we all the same?

Brick building. Welcome sign. White skin.

I was meant to feel like I was welcome,

Meant to fit in.

Does a little girl really need to fit in when she’s so young?

All she needs is to play outside and laugh and run around.

Not the case if you have brown skin and big hair.

Why?

Beautiful girl

With a beautiful

Curl.

In a world that doesn’t love her.

She doesn’t know yet,

But one day I bet that when she looks out the window at her flowers of different

Shades

Of purples, pinks, and browns,

Racism and ignorance will rain down on her,

Washing away her roots,

Blinding her from knowing about the kings and queens of which she originated.

She will go to school and look around and see that no one looks like her.

Picking and teasing

Her big hair and dark skin,

A difference the other children do not and will not understand.

Her parents will try to hide the evils of the world from her best they can,

But one day that little girl will grow up and realize the meaning of all this.

She sits in class trying to learn math,

And her teacher will joke

“Get your cotton picking hands off of that!”

And maybe at first she will not understand, but she will need someone to take her hand

And guide her through this land.

The land of the free.

She sang

Before the school assembly

That she was free,

Lived in the land of the

Free.

Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed writing a sample of my poem. When I was younger and struggled with anything whether it be stress, anxiety, boy problems, or anything in between, writing about it served as a release. Now, poetry is one of those things that comes naturally to me and helps me to explore other ways that I can express myself or tell a story through using unique techniques.

I think that even though all the experiments we can do have endless possibilities, most projects are done per a specific format. Poetry does in fact have different forms that you can use, however it is not required that you stay within those parameters, and that is the uniqueness of it. Sometimes writing free form poetry is the best way to express yourself and your ideas because you can write it in such a way that paints a vivid picture.

In terms of the topic itself that I chose, I think it suits me well because my identity as an African-American woman is central to who I am. With that, I think it has made me stronger and more able to be confident in myself when others are not.