IOC Poetry Themes

Question 1

Deferred

Answer 1

Although we have many goals in life, many times, we defer our actions until we completely give up and that’s not a way to live your life.

Question 2

Drama for A Winter Night (Fifth Avenue)

Answer 2

A commentary on the problems inherent to how the upper class treated the lower class in society.

Question 3

Birmingham Sunday

Answer 3

Communism breaks the racial border in the United States” is the theme of this poem.

Question 4

Always the Same

Answer 4

Communism can be a solution to all social issues.

Question 5

Same in Blues

Answer 5

Everyone has their own sadnesses and sorrows, but through blues, we can all share our sadness in a community.

Question 6

Goodbye Christ

Answer 6

2 of them:

a) religion is worn out and needs to be replaced by socialism
b) corruption within the church

Question 7

Heart of Harlem

Answer 7

Celebrate AA/different cultures

Question 8

Brass Spitoons

Answer 8

AA’s suffer bad working conditions and have a constant struggle –> the poem tries to bring awareness to this

Question 9

Ballad of Sam Solomon

Answer 9

Persevere for what you believe in –> Sam Solomon taking a final stand after being fed up with racism.

Question 10

Ballad of the Man Who’s Gone

Answer 10

Juxtaposition of expectation and reality show AA in a bad situation b/c of low socioecon…communism solution

Question 11

Jim Crow’s Last Stand

Answer 11

Jim Crow is going away (don’t count on it)

Question 12

Trumpet Player

Answer 12

Don’t forget about the past but rather use them as fodder for creative expression.

Question 13

Night Funeral in Harlem

Answer 13

Communities will still have support for each other even if they’re viewed as nothing by the upper class, especially in the case of Harlem.

Question 14

A New Song

Answer 14

It is the beginning of a new chapter/song in the history of AAs

Question 15

As I Grew Older

Answer 15

Dreams from the past are nno longer attainable as I grew older.

Question 16

Poem to a Dead Soldier

Answer 16

Soldiers are sent to die as expendable and people don’t think about this.

Question 17

The Weary Blues

Answer 17

Sing your message to the world in hopes that other people will hear you.

Question 18

Mother to Son

Answer 18

Perserverance

Question 19

Theme for English B

Answer 19

A call to action for personal examination and reflection.

Question 20

Let America be America Again

Answer 20

America needs to return to the land of the free and home of the brava rather than its rickety point at the moment.

Question 21

The Negro Mother

Answer 21

Perserverance

Question 22

Ballad of the Landlord

Answer 22

Discrimination

Question 23

Song of Adoration

Answer 23

White privelage

Question 24

Wait

Answer 24

Perserverance

Question 25

The South

Answer 25

The south = not welcoming for AAs

Question 26

Ruby Brown

Answer 26

Commentary on oppression

Question 27

One More “S” in the U.S.A.

Answer 27

call to action against capitalism

Question 28

Dinner Guest Me

Answer 28

Racism is a problem with no good solution at the moment. To solve it, we need civil discourse.

Question 29

Open Letter to the South

Answer 29

Inequality needs many approaches to solve.

Question 30

Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?

Answer 30

Feelings of will power, devotion and frustration communicate a message of equality and change in the status quo of the state of WWII