The two poems in this workshop are "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson and "A Whole New Look" by Angela Shelf Medearis. They both are about identity- not wanting everyone to know who you are, and changing yourself to the point that no one knows you. Some elements we look at in these poems include stanzas, speaker or persona, theme, and rhyme.
"I'm Nobody! Who are You?" by Emily Dickinson
In this short poem, the speaker states that s/he is "nobody"- somebody who does not stand out in a crowd or many people do not pay attention to. The speaker asks if "you" are "nobody" as well and is excited to learn that "you" do not stand out either. The speaker then states that it is dreary (sad, boring) to be a "somebody" who everyone pays attention to and knows. A "somebody" is compared to a frog, an animal that is very loud in a bog (swamp).
"A Whole New Look" by Angela Shelf Medearis
In this short poem, the speaker changes the way she looks over a week: she had her braces taken off, had her hair cut and got a perm (hair curled), and got contacts in place of glasses. Then she states that no one knew who she was when she went to school at the end of the week!
Stanzas are groups of lines in a poem (kind of like a paragraph in an essay). You will notice extra white space between the groups of lines.
A speaker or persona is the character who tells the poem- the author makes this character up and tells the poem from this character's point of view.
Theme is the author's message or what is learned from the text. These poems are related to the short story "Louisa, Please Come Home," because they are all about identity- who a person is. The theme is that some people try to hide or change their identity.
Rhyme is the same sounds repeated at the ends of words. Some examples of rhyme in the first poem are:
A speaker or persona is the character who tells the poem- the author makes this character up and tells the poem from this character's point of view.
Theme is the author's message or what is learned from the text. These poems are related to the short story "Louisa, Please Come Home," because they are all about identity- who a person is. The theme is that some people try to hide or change their identity.
Rhyme is the same sounds repeated at the ends of words. Some examples of rhyme in the first poem are:
- you and too
- frog and bog