Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
An unnamed African-American person who opines about the state of democracy in the United States for people of color. The narrator represents every African-American person in the country.
Form and Meter
Free verse.
Metaphors and Similes
The entire poem is a metaphor for the struggles African-American individuals experience as a result of institutional racism.
Alliteration and Assonance
N/A
Irony
There is an implied irony in the poem: African-Americans were ensured the same rights as everyone else. However, they weren't given those rights, something the poem's narrator is lamenting.
Genre
Lyric
Setting
The poem's setting is never specified, but it is presumably set in America during the Civil Rights Movement.
Tone
Assertive and determined.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The people fighting for democracy and equal rights (including the narrator) is the poem's protagonist. The people opposing them is the poem's antagonist.
Major Conflict
The fight for democracy and equal rights is the major conflict of the poem.
Climax
The poem doesn't have a climax. It is more meditative in nature.
Foreshadowing
The poem doesn't utilize a narrative structure; thus, foreshadowing doesn't play a role in the poem.
Understatement
The terrible effects institutional racism have had on black people in America is understated throughout the poem.
Allusions
There are allusions to the Civil Rights Movement and other U.S. history.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"Freedom" is a metonym for the freedom black people desire (and deserve) in the United States.
Personification
Democracy itself is personified throughout the poem.
Hyperbole
The poem doesn't utilize hyperbole.
Onomatopoeia
The poem doesn't include any words that sound like they do in real life (e.g. "oink").
