Lucille Clifton Good Times

In Lucille Clifton’s “good times”, the speaker reflects on the poverty in her childhood and creates feelings of sympathy and appreciation for the simple pleasures in life. Despite the speaker’s situation, she still finds the good in life. The literary device of repetition is used in the poem to convey the theme of always to focus on the good rather than the bad and to emphasize that although there is poverty in the speaker’s life, she still remains positive. Repetition, or a refrain, is seen at the end of each stanza. This repetition or refrain refers back to the title of the poem and reveals the central message of the poem that one must not take the simple things in life for granted. In each stanza the poet discusses the poverty she is living in but ends the stanza on a positive when she states “and they is good times/good times/good times” (Clifton 5-7). This repeated phrase alludes back to …show more content…
By repeating the word “and” and not using punctuation, the speaker shows the family’s troubles. Repetition is seen in “and the insurance man is gone/ and the lights is back on” (Clifton 2-3). The speaker keeps stating “and” to show their level of poverty. The list keeps going on. It points to troubling times. By going on and on about poverty, she is almost being ironic when she is discussing good times. She learns to cherish the times when the family gets enough money to pay for the lights to come back on. When she states “and dancing in the kitchen/and singing in the kitchen” she repeats the word “kitchen” is convey how bad her situation really is (Clifton 11-12). Her family is struggling to afford food. By stating everybody is singing and dancing, she is showing their bliss and ignorance. At this moment, their poverty is a little better since the lights are back on and they got a little money and they are cherishing and celebrating this rare