Poem about Ancestry
1. The poem about one's ancestry is usually about the loss of one's previous identity with a group and the pain of this disjunction with a previous self. It is usually about the pain of repression of a part of one's self that one previously identified with strongly.
2. However, the poem about one's ancestry doesn't always need to focus on the loss of one's self. Indeed, if it only does this, it may seem bitter. It can be about the affirmation of some part of the self in spite of the loss of some other part. Usually, this duality of loss and acceptance forms the crux of the poem about ancestry.
3. Sometimes the poem about ancestry is a remembrance of one's heritage that seems distant to the speaker. In this case the speaker "reinvents" the past, sometimes even doing this in a way that fabricates a longed-for past. With such desire for rootedness in the past, the speaker also may pit the past against the present. He/she may invoke characters from the past (mythological characters?) and bring them into present situations.
4. Often at the core of a poem about ancestry is a remembrance of some past activity of a cultural group (usually ethnic in character) that is both particular and emblematic of the group as a whole. The author then depicts this experience as meaningful either on a personal level or for those who belong to this group today.
This assignment is worth 1 point.
Examples:
1. For a New Citizen of These United States—Li-Young Lee
• Freeway 280—Lorna Dee Cervantes
• Cutting Greens—Lucille Clifton
• I'm a Fool To Love You—Cornelius Eady
• Inventing Father in Las Vegas—Lynn Emmanuel