Kyannah Harris
AP Literature- 4th
October 7, 2016

Poetry Response #3

Nikki Giovanni's poem "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" shows us a very vivid comparison between blacks and whites. In the poem the speakers talks about having to pick cotton meanwhile the other woman (white) has the luxury to sit inside all day and do nothing but have people cater to her. Giovanni uses imagery, and diction to depict slavery. 

In lines 5-6 Giovanni writes "she has lips soft and pink/" "my woman's lips burn in midday sun." This imagery helps show us how hard the work of this black woman actually is. And Giovanni also uses fiction to help her audience know that the woman whom she is comparing the woman of color to is  indefinitely white. She writes "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair," which really translate to the girl with blonde hair. But Giovanni makes her audience mind wonder what the heck is flaxen and what does this have to do with the character and that is your answer.

Nikki Giovanni is an excellent poet and I look forward to reading more of her poetry in the future!