Victoria Chang Poem Structure

The art of poetry is a vast discipline in which the creations of the poets take on a multitude of different forms. Not only are there a large number of poetic structures that an author can choose from, there are also many parts within those structures that can be modified to lead to an even more diverse array of final products. The author has a great many choice when it comes to choosing the structure of their poem, they can vary the number of lines per stanza, the length of each line, and the number of syllables per line. Other variations the poet can make include content changes such as choosing to use rhyming words, repeated sounds like alliteration, and figurative devices such as personification. Even in poetry forms with strict guidelines, …show more content…
In writing this poem, the author chose not to conform to any of the more stringent poetry styles and instead opted for the free-verse poetry form in which there are no set guidelines regarding stanza breaks, rhythm, or rhyme schemes. Structurally, this poem is constructed of ten open couplets in which sentences are regularly enjambed, however, the enjambment does not affect the reading of the poem adversely. With the exception of the end of the poem, no stanza break coincides with a period and only one other coincides with any form of punctuation at all. This lack of regularity or apparent significance in the punctuation, in addition to the couplet form of the poem with no true purpose, are perplexing and leave the reader uncertain why the author choses to break up the lines in this fashion as there are more visually satisfying ways that …show more content…
The final sentence reads, “// I am the minus symbol, / with its turquoise hue, that never disappears.” The previous lines of the poem identified as the father “mumbling, hunching, punching” over his soot coated calculator doing calculations. The sooty calculator allows us to infer that the father smokes and the mumbling and punching could imply frustration on the father’s. This sequence, followed the narrator identifying as the minus symbol that never disappears, could simply be referring to a button on the calculator. Or it could be referring to the output of the calculator meaning the restaurant is making a negative profit, or losses. If the symbol never disappears then we can believe that the restaurant has been turning a loss for quite some time and is thus struggling financially. The title of the poem, “$4.99 All You Can Eat Sunday Brunch” is reminiscent of a sign or ad seen in a newspaper, is could be an attempt by the owners to increase the amount of customers that come into their restaurant. The combination of the title, the shabby appearance of the restaurant including the duct taped booths and cracked toilet seats, and the ever present minus symbol allows us to easily picture a struggling low or mid-tier Chinese