Sherman Alexie

The poet, Sherman Alexie, used two main poetic devices to portray his purpose. He has a strong aversion to facebook. He uses a blunt diction and a sarcastic then depressing tone to portray his dislike of the values in this era. The present era that Sherman’s poem represents puts everything in the “public domain,” and uses facebook as it’s forum.
The values of the era in the poet's opinion are noted throughout the poem. He believes that the desire to be liked is important. He points this out with the line, “Welcome past friends, and lovers, however kind or cruel”. This demonstrates that people need to have friends even if they are not true friends. He seems to think that people are not growing. He shows this by the question, “Why can't we pretend every stage in life is the same?” and “Let’s all play the games that occupy the young,” indicating that people are stuck in childhood. He believes that people use facebook as a place to overshare in order to connect somehow. The poet is trying to suggest that everyone is holding on and sharing things that without facebook, they wouldn’t share. He conveys this point with the lines, “Let shame and shame intertwine,” and “Let’s sign up, sign in, and confess.” …show more content…
For example, “Welcome to the endless high school reunion.” His sarcastic tone is suggesting that Facebook keeps people in a high school mindset and prevents them from moving on from their past. The poet also seems to believe that people are shallow and focused on how they appear to others. In the bottom half of the poem, the poet changes the tone from sarcastic to a depressing. In the last line, “Here at the altar of loneliness,” Sherman articulates his view on this era which is people use facebook because they are lonely or depressed about their