Yusef komunyakaa s most popular book is neon vernacular. My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. The ever so controversial vietnam conflict, also known as the vietnam war. Produced for k12 educators, teach this poem features one poem a week from our online poetry collection, accompanied by interdisciplinary resources and activities designed to help teachers quickly. It is a reflection on komunyakaas first visit to the vietnam veterans memorial. In what ways has yusef komunyakaas vietnam war experience. This poem was very well written, and i respect all that was said in the context of the poem. He identifies himself in the first lines of the poem saying my black faces fades, hiding inside the black granite pg. Yusef komunyakaa poems, quotations and biography on yusef komunyakaa poet page. Yusef komunyakaa was born in 1947 in the quiet mill town of bogalusa, louisiana. Yusef komunyakaa, a vietnam veteran and poet, wrote the poem below. This poem, one of komunyakaa s most famous, depicts a veterans encounter with the vietnam war memorial in washington, d. The it in komunyakaa s poem refers both to the war and the black granite of the vietnam. Books by yusef komunyakaa author of neon vernacular.
My black faces fades, hiding inside the black granite komunyakaa. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa 1007 words 5 pages. First, the title is a clear summary of yusef komunyakaas poem. Facing it, by yusef komunyakaa, a poem about the conflict between a man and his mind as he visits the vietnam veterans memorial site, is one example that has a deep meaning and is loaded with imagery. Jun 09, 2017 what makes great poetry a brief analysis of yusef komunyakaas blackberries. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa produced for k12 educators, teach this poem features one poem a week from our online poetry. Facing it, by yusef komunyakaa talks about a war which most, if not all americans are familiar with. Yusef komunyakaa questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on yusef komunyakaa. Despite his resistance, the speaker becomes emotional at the stone wall, which is polished to a mirror. An essay or paper on use of narration in the poem, facing it. The article offers poetry criticism of the poem facing it, by yusef komunyakaa. Facing it is a poem by american poet and author yusef komunyakaa. He is also a winner of many prestigious awards, that include the pulitzer prize for poetry. Yusef komunyakaa reads his poem facing it about seeing the vietnam veterans memorial wall in washington, d.
Use of imagery and figurative language in facing it by. Yusef komunyakaa on how writing and art has changed him duration. As an african american, komunyakaa acknowledges that his black face isnt the. Komunyakaa, the protagonist of his narrative, reflective poem, contemplates his past experiences as he promenades around the vietnam veterans memorial. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york university and is a member of the fellowship of southern writers. He teaches at new york university, and is a member of the fellowship of southern writers. Yusef komunyakaas facing it free essays, term papers. A surname belonging to his grandfather who had been a stowaway on a ship. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa what lies within the text.
Nostalgic memories in yusef komunyakaas facing it essay. Use of imagery and figurative language in facing it by yusef komunyakaa in his poem, facing it, yusef komunyakaa describes his ambivalent emotions towards the vietnam war of which he was a veteran. Jun 30, 2009 i met my wife in a bookstore and read her my poetry before our first conversation was over. Komunyakaa uses his childhood experiences to inform many of his works. Which characteristic of postmodern writing is most clearly shown in the two works where is the narrator in komunyakaa s facing it.
Yusef komunyakaa poems poems of yusef komunyakaa poem hunter. Komunyakaa was born in the conservative rural south on the cusp of the civil rights movement. Get all the lyrics to songs by yusef komunyakaa and join the genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics. Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 100year archive of poetry magazine. Yusef komunyakaa links to poems, biography, bibliography, and commentary. Biography of yusef komunyakaa military career, education. The exsoldier finds himself staring his past in the face. In memoriam this lesson uses facing it to explore poems written for a specific occasion. Which characteristic of postmodern writing is most clearly. A vietnam veterans thoughts on war poem facing it the. This poem was very well written, and i respect all that was said in the con. Yusef komunyakaa, born in 1947, wrote both february in sydney and facing it. My black face fadeshiding inside the black granite.
There are certain moments in ones life when an incident is so powerful, emotionally or physically, that it leaves a mark on a person. Facing it is telling a story of a person who is visiting the vietnam war memorial. I wanted to use the structure of that poem to look at the state sponsored war on black people in the united states. His grandparents were church people and he has said in interview the old testament informed the cadences of their speech. Poem hunter all poems of by yusef komunyakaa poems. Poet yusef komunyakaa first received wide recognition following the 1984 publication of copacetic, a collection of poems built from colloquial speech which demonstrated his incorporation of jazz influences.
What is the theme of the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa. It explores the war experience of komunyakaa, which reflects on the poem that he has written in retrospect on the vietnam war. Yusef komunyakaa at the academy of american poets biography, links to a few poems and other sites. In the poem facing it, the author yusef komunyakaa makes use of imagery, symbolism, and allusion to demonstrate the difficulty that veterans have dealing with the lingering emotional pain caused by war and how this causes them to have trouble facing reality. Facing it facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a poem about an. One image that relates to facing it is the freedom sculpture that was created by zenos frudakis. The following entry presents information from 1989 through 2001 on the life and career of komunyakaa. In the poem facing it, by the poet yusef komunyakaa, he himself is the one who is speaking, the poem is about his own life experience at the vietnam memorial. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa 1052 words 5 pages facing it is a poem by yusef komunyakaa.
The free tracks you can enjoy in the poetry archive are a selection of a poets work. Phenomenal woman, still i rise, the road not taken, if you forget me, dreams. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa that english teacher. As an african american, komunyakaa acknowledges that his black face isnt the only thing that hides in the darkness of that granite.
It is a poem in which the writer uses imagery and figurative language to express his feelings and his thoughts. For further information on his life and works, see clc, volume 86. New and collected poems wesleyan university press 2001. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa 732 words. Yusef komunyakaas facing it poem essay african american.
Nostalgic memories in facing it just as farmers brand their livestock in order to claim them as their own, humans do the same when it comes to important events. Write about that experience, describing in detail both what you saw and what you now know as a result of seeing it. Read all poems of yusef komunyakaa and infos about yusef komunyakaa. He is the oldest among five siblings and bore the name, james william brown until he reclaimed the name, komunyakaa. Yusef komunyakaa has 64 books on goodreads with 167 ratings.
He later reclaimed the name komunyakaa that his grandfather, a stowaway in a ship from trinidad, had lost. I wrote this poem after yusef komunyakaa s poem facing it. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa deals with the themes of memory, war and survival. Yusef komunyakaa s books of poetry include taboo, dien cai dau, neon vernacular, for which he received the pulitzer prize, talking dirty to the gods,warhorses, the chameleon couch, the emperor of water clocks, and everyday mojo songs of earth. Son of a carpenter he was raised in a house of few books at the beginning of the civil rights movement. In the poem facing it by yusef komunyakaa, the author uses first person narration, metaphor, simile, images of light and darkness, personification, allusion and word connotation in order to convey to his detached audience the intimate. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1947 is an africanamerican poet and academic. What kind of imagery do both komunyakaa s camouflaging the chimera in komunyakaa s camouflaging the chimera what are the soldiers doing. Komunyakaa began writing in 1973, after achieving his bachelors degree university of colorado springs. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa reveals another several sides of. The poem begins with the speaker facing the black granite wall of the memorial. The poem is about the poet and his sense of loss of his identity. In what ways has yusef komunyakaas vietnam war experience a.
Komunyakaa was born james william brown, the eldest of 6 children of james william brown, a carpenter. William faulkner prize from the universite rennes, the thomas forcade award, the hanes poetry prize, fellowships from the fine arts work center in provincetown, the louisiana arts council, and the national endowment for the arts, and the bronze star for his service in vietnam, where he served as a correspondent and managing editor of the southern cross. Yusef komunyakaa 1947 american poet and author of essays, interviews, and commentaries. Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office at 26 red lion square london wc1r 4hq. Yusef komunyakaa born april 29, 1941 is an american poet who teaches at new york university and is a. Feb 19, 2015 in the poem facing it by yursef komunyakaa talks a lot about people facing war and guilt and sorrow. The way a person can tell if the own poet of the poem is the speaker is by the use of first person. Dien cai dau awesome and vivid vietnam poems professor yusef komunyakaa is just an awesome poet and is a member of the fellowship of southern writers. Several years following the vietnam war, yusef komunyakaa, being a vietnam survivor himself, writes the poem, facing it, allowing his emotions to resurface while he views the vietnam memorial. A summary and analysis of yusef komunyakaas facing it. Yusef komunyakaa grew up in the deep south during the dawn of the civil rights movement.
The author relates that the poem allows the poet to see his own mortality clearly in the tombstonelike face of the vietnam veterans. Unfortunately, humanity fully cognized the term of war. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 kingsley tufts poetry award, for neon vernacular and the 1994 pulitzer prize for poetry. In 1984, komunyakaa began to reflect on his experiencesalthough his decision to write about vietnam wasnt entirely deliberate. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa essay 675 words. Through komunyakaa s poem, the reader witnesses a black veteran facing his past in the vietnam war at the vietnam veterans memorial. Audio recordings of classic and contemporary poems read by poets and actors, delivered every day. Page facing it poem by yusef komunyakaa poem hunter comments. In what ways has yusef komunyakaa s vietnam war experience affected the way he thinks and views the world in his poems, tu do street, facing it, and you and i are disappearing. Yusef komunyakaa writes movingly about his vietnam war experience in his poem facing it.
These poems were written as a way of talking around an idea or question, this idea question being that of growing up during the civil rights movement. He faces an inner conflict when he finds his reflection. Reflecting on his experiences, yusef expresses his conflicting feelings about the vietnam. Analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa 1007 words. C to basically remember and honor his friends who he has lost because of the war. Facing it my black face fades, poet yusef komunyakaa first received wide recognition following the 1984 publication of copacetic, a collection of poems built from colloquial speech which demonstrated his incorporation of jazz influences.
The son of a carpenter, komunyakaa has said that he was first alerted to the power of language through his grandparents, who were church people. Yusef komunyakaa is an american poet who has served for the army as well. Connell 8 october 20 komunyakaa s poems of sorrow and guilt yusef komunyakaa was born in 1947, in bogalusa, louisiana. Especially, when these events are directly related to person, the memory reproduces every second of what happened.
Summary of facing it facing it by yusef komunyakaa speaks of one mans reaction to seeing the vietnam veterans memorial in washington, d. Komunyakaa served in vietnam from 1969 to 1970, during which time he wrote for army newspaper southern cross. Essay on yusef komunyakaa and the vietnam war yusef komunyakaa, the poet of war, vividly describes his vacillating emotions about the vietnam war and his relation to it as an africanamerican veteran in the poem, facing it. Reflecting on his experiences, yusef expresses his conflicting feelings about the vietnam war and his feelings about how racism has played a. Every time that he is looking at the names on the memorial he is seeing his friends and himself fighting side by side. A poem from a poet worth checking out, if you havent done so already, yusef komunyakaas blackberries speaks. One of komunyakaa s most frequently anthologized poems, facing it was first published in his collection dien cai dau, 1988. Yusef komunyakaa was born on 29 april 1947 in bogalusa, louisiana. Yusef komunyakaa, original name in full james william brown, jr. Yusef komunyakaas most popular book is neon vernacular. He worked for the military newspaper military cross during his stint with the armed forces in the vietnam war. Write about that experience, describing in detail both what you saw and what you now know as a.
He is following in the long tradition of war poems going back to homers iliad, to those of warriors returning from iraq and afghanistan. Facing it by yusef komunyakaa is a poem about an african american that was a part of the vietnam war. Facing us by amanda johnston poems academy of american. Yusef komunyakaa s libretto, testimony, and the humanity of charlie parker select bibliography memories and the vietnam war experience in yusef komunyakaa s dien cai dau biography about facing it the poetry of yusef komunyakaa. Facing it by yusef komunyaka by danilsa ynfante on prezi.
He served a tour of duty in vietnam, where he was also a writer and the managing editor for the military. Apr 05, 20 analysis of facing it by yusef komunyakaa cruel and terrible events forever leave a mark on our memory. The poem begins with the reflection of komunyakaa s face dissolving into the polished black stone as he stares into it for the first time. Recall a moment in your own life in which seeing something concrete such as the vietnam war memorial led you to a deeper, psychological revelation. This website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions. Poetry community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Warhorses is the haunting, electric work of a pulitzer prizewinning poet who never ceases to challenge and delight his readers this powerful collection of yusef komunyakaa s poetry delves, with his characteristic allusiveness, intelligence, and intensity, into an age of war and conflict, both global and internal, racial and sexual. Facing it poem by yusef komunyakaa poem hunter comments. Feb 19, 2015 in the poem, facing it by yusef komunyakaa, the author who was a veteran in the vietnam war is now visiting the vietnam memorial in washington d. Yusef komunyakaa 2001, used by permission of the author and the publisher. Yusef komunyakaa yusef komunyakaa poems poem hunter. Yusef komunyakaa research paper flashcards quizlet. In facing it, only the second poem hed written in retrospect about vietnam, komunyakaas response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit, a year earlier, to lins memorial.