Nikki Giovanni's Poetry Essay

Which is more significant, to be independent or to be dependent? In the lyric poems "Legacies," "the drum," and "Choices," by Nikki Giovanni, the author expressed her thoughts and feelings relating to the independent spirit in life. Her purpose through the three poems is to "suggests that we all must find a balance between what we want to do and what other people expect of us" (page 417). Giovanni used specific stylistic devices in the poems and those devices contribute to the message of the poems. The stylistic devices include using only lower case letters, the lack of punctuations, there's symbolism, imagery, figurative language, tone, and theme.
To start with, breaking down "Legacies" (page 418), the poem was written in only lowercase letters with the lack of punctuation line in lines 16-17, "and neither of them ever/said what they meant". Only lowercase letters with the lack of punctuations affect the tone of the poem to be free, giving the reader the feeling as if they're there, having a simple …show more content…
lines 1-2 stated, "daddy says the world is / a drum tight and hard", symbolizing that the drum is tight and hard like how the world is tight and hard because of the responsibility, tax, money, family, and other stress and hardships. This quote is also very detailed, and so one can picture the drum, highlighting the tightness and hardness of its surface. the type of figurative language that was used was metaphor. in lines 4-5, "I'm gonna beat out my own rhythm", comparing "beat out"as the control or to create, and "own rhythm" as one's own path, in other words, this quote means to have control or create one's own life path. this poem points out the "what you wanted to do" part of Giovanni's purpose, as the speaker said, "I'm gonna beat / out my own rhythm", showing the urge for