Learn about yusef komunyakaas influences that helped shape facing it, and other important details about yusef komunyakaa. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa poems academy of american poets. A poem from a poet worth checking out, if you havent done so already, yusef komunyakaas blackberries speaks. The son of a carpenter, komunyakaa has said that he was first alerted to the power of language through his grandparents, who were church people. Yusef komunyakaa research paper flashcards quizlet. Mla style citing sources research guides at university. Komunyakaa at the 2011 national book critics circle awards in march 2012. Analysis of poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa owlcation. Yusef komunyakaas the towers in light of juliana spahr. Komunyakaa was born in the conservative rural south on the cusp of the civil rights movement. Yusef komunyakaa speaks in a gravelly southern baritone, tinged with a cajun flavor that reflects his childhood years in louisiana.
Unfortunately, humanity fully cognized the term of war. In the poem it states i go down the 58,022 names, halfexpecting to find my own in letters like smoke. Yusef komunyakaa links to poems, biography, bibliography, and commentary. Download facing it in pdf and epub formats for free. Yusef komunyakaa lesson plans and teaching resources yusef komunyakaa at the academy of american poets biography, links to a few poems and other sites. I go down the 58,022 names58,022 names the number of names of dead soldiers etched on the wall at the time of komunyakaas composing of this poem. Komunyakaa has composed this poem by alternating between short choppy lines and longer, drawn out phrases. My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning. A summary and analysis of yusef komunyakaas facing it. Yusef komunyakaas dien cai dau is another collection of vietnam war poetry. What makes great poetry a brief analysis of yusef komunyakaas blackberries. Finish your response by explaining how these images and their metaphorical meaning helps your understanding of the theme of the poem.
Book award, and the commonwealth clubs california book award. Project muse promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. A summary and analysis of yusef komunyakaa s facing it this post brings to you a summary and analysis of the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa. On april 29, 1947, yusef komunyakaa was born in bogalusa, louisiana, where he was raised during the beginning of the civil rights movement. Yusef komunyakaa is known as a jazz poet, a southern writer and a soldier poet. Yusef komunyakaas most popular book is neon vernacular. The poet, who received the bronze star and edited the southern cross, dedicates this book to his brother glenn, who saw the nam before komunyakaa did. Citation using a signal phrase in his discussion of monty python routines, crystal notes that the group relished breaking the normal rules of language 107. Several years following the vietnam war, yusef komunyakaa, being a vietnam survivor himself, writes the poem, facing it, allowing his emotions to resurface while he views the vietnam memorial.
Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa cruel and terrible events forever leave a mark on our memory. Yusef komunyakaa was born on 29 april 1947 in bogalusa, louisiana. Yusef komunyakaa served in the nam and these poems tell of his experiences. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york. In this book i offer ideas about how students might become more. Both of these styles of writing utilize enjambment.
His grandparents were church people and he has said in interview the old testament informed the cadences of their speech. My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa essay example. Yusef komunyakaa was born in 1947 in the quiet mill town of bogalusa, louisiana. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a 31 line poem that does not adhere to any particular rhyme scheme or strictly metered pattern. Komunyakaas poems cover many subjects, from war to folklore, from jazz to racial issues. Yusef komunyakaa has 64 books on goodreads with 167 ratings. Poems from komunyakaas earlier books show that while his style has evolved from a soulbare blues to an intellectually syncopated jazz, his core obsessions remain. Facing it my black face fades, poet yusef komunyakaa first received wide recognition following the 1984 publication of copacetic, a collection of poems built from colloquial speech which demonstrated his incorporation of jazz influences. Yusef komunyakaas poem facing it is the concluding poem of his 1988 book dien cai dau which means both crazy and american soldier. He has published nine books of poetry and teaches at princeton university. The ever so controversial vietnam conflict, also known as the vietnam war.
Yusef komunyakaa reads his poem facing it about seeing the vietnam veterans memorial wall in washington, d. Yusef komunyakaa the towers is a part of his book entitled warhorses written in 2009. Parenthetical citation a noted linguistic explains that monty python humor often relied on bizarre linguistic interactions crystal 108. The poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa essay example.
Yusef komunyakaa s most popular book is neon vernacular. Facing it book also available for read online, mobi, docx and mobile and kindle reading. Facing it, by yusef komunyakaa talks about a war which most, if not all americans are familiar with. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa that english teacher. A summary and analysis of yusef komunyakaas facing it this post brings to you a summary and analysis of the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa. Connell 8 october 20 komunyakaas poems of sorrow and guilt yusef komunyakaa was born in 1947, in bogalusa, louisiana. His face blending into the black granite, yusef komunyakaas reflection takes him back into the blackness of the war 847. Yusef komunyakaas libretto, testimony, and the humanity of charlie parker select bibliography memories and the vietnam war experience in yusef komunyakaas dien cai dau biography about facing it the poetry of yusef komunyakaa. In the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa, the author uses first person narration, metaphor, simile, images of light and darkness, personification, allusion and word connotation in order to convey to his detached audience the intimate. Author of nine books and winner of a pulitzer prize for poetry, komunyakaa sets a. Yusef wrote the poem after returning home from vietnam. Im looking for the stanza by stanza analysis of facing it poem by yusef. The poem is inspired from the experiences of the poet during the vietnam war, where he worked as a correspondent and managing editor of a. Yusef komunyakaa 1988 you and i are disappearing yusef komunyakaa 1988.
These, despite providing the anticipated sorrowful meaning, bring about the feeling of pleasure and fulfillment instead. Son of a carpenter he was raised in a house of few books at the beginning of the civil rights movement. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. In the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa has lot of descriptive imagery stanzas that make you feel as if you are really there. Yusef komunyakaa, original name in full james william brown, jr. He is a man who chooses his words carefully, splicing his speech with long silences, until his conversation resembles something close to a jazz riff very fitting for this acclaimed poet who says oral language is our first music, and the body is an amplifier. Black and white portrait of yusef komunyakaa, resting his left hand under his chin. In memoriam this lesson uses facing it to explore poems written for a specific occasion. Nostalgic memories in yusef komunyakaas facing it essay. It was 14 years after the war that he finally wrote the poem. Facing the vietnam veterans memorial wall, yusef komunyakaa began to reflect on all the things that had been pushed from his mind for years.
Komunyakaa began writing in 1973, after achieving his bachelors degree university of colorado springs. It is a reflection on komunyakaas first visit to the vietnam veterans memorial. Komunyakaa vividly evokes his childhood in bogalusa, louisiana, once a center of klan activity, and later a focus of civil rights efforts. In addition to 12 moving new poems, neon vernacular winner of the 1994 pulitzer prize for poetry samples broadly from yusef komunyakaas acclaimed collections dien cai dau, copacetic, and i apologize for the eyes in my head. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa essay 675 words. Facing it by yusef komunyaka by danilsa ynfante on prezi. Facing it is a poem by american poet and author yusef komunyakaa. One of komunyakaas most frequently anthologized poems, facing it was first published in his collection dien cai dau, 1988. Engage your students during remote learning with video readalouds. There are certain moments in ones life when an incident is so powerful, emotionally or physically, that it leaves a mark on a person. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york university and is a member of the fellowship of southern writers.
He portrays a childs dawning awareness of the natural and social order around him, rhythms of life in the community, the constant struggle for survival in the face of poverty and racism, the adolescents awakening sexuality, the beginnings of the poet. Poet yusef komunyakaa first received wide recognition following the 1984 publication of copacetic, a collection of poems built from colloquial speech which demonstrated his incorporation of jazz influences. It is a reflection on komunyakaa s first visit to the vietnam veterans memorial. Poems by yusef komunyakaa academy of american poets. Any book that sends me to the dictionary so i can understand the title is a great book.
I met my wife in a bookstore and read her my poetry before our first conversation was over. An essay or paper on use of narration in the poem, facing it. This poem was very well written, and i respect all that was said in the context of the poem. Nostalgic memories in facing it just as farmers brand their livestock in order to claim them as their own, humans do the same when it comes to important events. Books by yusef komunyakaa author of neon vernacular. He served in the united states army from 1969 to 1970 as a correspondent, and as managing editor of the southern cross during the vietnam war, earning him a. When was the last time you were a window, and how did it. I had to look up dien cai dau, in gi parlance it is dinky dau, or crazy. The poem is inspired from the experiences of the poet during the vietnam war, where he worked as a correspondent and managing editor of a military newspaper.
Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Whats interesting about komunyakaa writing about war is. Komunyakaa served in vietnam and was discharged from the army in 1966, during which time he wrote for army newspaper southern cross. His poems put the reader in the soldiers shoes, allowing them to camouflage themselves and skulk around the. Download file to see previous pages in the poem, komunyakaa attempts to reveal that while some things seem to fade away and disappear, they get connected to other things that give them a true and deeper meaning. The poem begins with the reflection of komunyakaas face dissolving. When i was a boy he says the sky began burning someone ran knocking on our doorone night. Facing it by yusef komunyaa is a poem about vietnam. Komunyakaa uses his childhood experiences to inform many of his works. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
984 1639 274 785 739 1410 881 428 1208 1227 1351 69 1467 173 732 1161 1082 838 283 1604 921 710 243 312 1004 83 1058 318 1379 691 982 1290 120