Harlem Hopscotch Literary Elements

An unnamed speaker, who both instructs players in a hopscotch game (or, perhaps, narrates their own decisions) and muses about life in Harlem

Three quatrains and a couplet in AABBCC meter, largely in modified trochaic trimeter with a line of iambic tetrameter. Collectively, the poem is a modified English sonnet.

The game of hopscotch serves as an extended metaphor for life in a racist society.

Here, alliteration and assonance emphasize the repetitive, monotonous effect of racism. Examples include the alliterative "H" and assonant "O" sounds in “One foot down, then hop! It's hot” and the alliterative "C" sounds in "Curse and cry and then jump two."

The speaker's comparison and juxtaposition of a children's game to a lifestyle of hardship is ironic, creating an unexpected parallel between these two realms. So is the speaker's choice to exit the game entirely, unexpectedly positing that the forfeiture of the game results in winning it.

Sonnet

Mid-twentieth-century Harlem

Playful; Critical; Commanding

Protagonist: The speaker. Antagonist: Racism, poverty, and injustice

The major conflict is between the speaker, who chooses to reject the internalized values and social norms of a racist society, and those who insist upon those values and norms as a measure of success.

The poem reaches a climax in the third stanza, when the speaker describes the consequences players suffer for crossing the metaphorical "line." This moment highlights the stakes of the game, pointing out the ways in which Black people might suffer as a result of expressing their individuality or disrupting the status quo.

The speaker foreshadows the ultimate revelation of the metaphorical hopscotch game with the early line "Good things for the ones that's got," giving readers a clue that the hopscotch game is nothing but a trap: it promises rewards but ultimately only helps those who already have at least some power and resources.

The poem's premise is itself an understatement, since the speaker is addressing a heavy and highly consequential topic through the metaphor of a children’s game.

The poem alludes to the poverty and discrimination in the black neighborhoods in Harlem during the mid-20th century, as well as to the popular game of hopscotch.

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By reducing complex social norms to a simple game, the speaker concentrates a variety of transgressions into the single metaphorical act of "crossing the line," thus imbuing that act with exaggerated, hyperbolic significance (though it is simultaneously an understatement, as explained above).

The terms “hop” "twist" and "jerk" are onomatopoeic, mimicking the tense and quick movements of the hopscotch player with short, clipped words.