Anecdotal Motifs And Techniques In Richard Blanco's One Today

Throughout One Today, Richard Blanco uses both anecdotal flashbacks and motifs to portray opportunity and equality; conveying a positive view of a shared American experience. Blanco’s use of anecdotal flashbacks help contribute to the positive concept of a shared American experience and connects to Walt Whitman’s poem of I Hear America Singing. In the second paragraph, Blanco describes the similar experiences and daily routines of all Americans. By starting this description with Americans who “clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives” (Blanco 13), he is able to transition into a flashback of his own mother’s similar story. He speaks of his mother working hard to “ring-up groceries… for 20 years, so [Blanco] could write this poem” (Blanco …show more content…
Similar to the millions of other Americans who work hard everyday, Richard Blanco’s father worked to provide a better life for the future generation of his sons. The practice of families working to make their children's lives better is very common in America. Blanco’s use of familial anecdotes as a literary device helps develop the idea of a shared American experience by stating his story is similar to the millions of others. Much like Blanco’s One Today, Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing furthers this ideal of a positive experience as workers sing “their strong melodious songs” (Whitman 12). While Blanco makes use of anecdotal flashbacks, Whitman uses the general stories of working Americans. Despite the differences, Whitman shows the “carpenter signing as he measures his plank or beam… [and] the shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench”(Whitman 3,6) and eventually depicts the “delicious singing of the mother” (Whitman 9). The singing of the workers is harmonious and common as they seem to add to each other and develop the emphasizes on a positive American