Semester 2! Reflection 5

The story I read was New Poem. The protagonist of the story is a cleaning lady at the white house. She wants to be more surrounded by different cultures rather than only one that she finds to be plain. She states "Why does the white house have to be so white?"

The antagonist would have to be the government. They don't allow free verse, and don't read poems that relate to culture like the workings of Langston Hughes. The government is trying to eliminate the freedom of minorities to speak out

The theme of this story is culture and how it is important to be knowledgeable about where one is from and allow it to spread through their pride. A technique used to show this theme would have to be Familiar vs. Unfamiliar place. The used a normal place such as the white house and made it seem as if she is in an another planet. By doing so she was able to show the differences between her tastes and other cultures. Another technique was allusion. The whole thing is an opinion about the Bush administration and how he maltreated those that weren't like him, and tried to censor their culture out of the country, or out of his sight.

The author's tone is revolutionary. She seems to want to create change throughout the whole story and complains about the workplace and how it is a catalyst for the fading of her identification. Some techniques to exemplify the tone are indirect dialogue and setting. With indirect dialogue the reader was able to tap into the protagonist's mind. Everything in her head was a critique of the Bush administration. Setting was used to revel the character's emotions, set the place, and time period. By making the story take place during a frustrating period for all minorites she was able to carry the tone throughout.

The crises action happens close to the end when the protagonist finds more comfort in that things will get better. The optimism showed that the character had the power at the moment and will share the things that have been silenced by the "poor and powerless." The protagonist has the ability to be more confident. She has been denied the write to share her poems and refuses to listen tot he order. She also comes to terms that they are the ones that are losing for not listening to it. In the beginning all she did was complain but now she is more logical and sneaky in her thinking.

My favorite part is when the author wrote "Why does the white house have to be so white?" Despite being humorous the quote has a lot of meaning behind it. It shows different cultures are still rarely accepted here in the United States and this country has a lot of work to do.