Countee Cullen

Incident

BY COUNTEE CULLEN

Once riding in old Baltimore,   

   Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,   

I saw a Baltimorean

   Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,

   And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out

   His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

I saw the whole of Baltimore

   From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there

   That’s all that I remember.

Exploration Of The Text

1.    The nature of the interactions between both of them is mutually felt awkward with each other. this is due the differences of skin color has been applied to them since childhood. This is called Racism. 
2.    The speaker remember nothing because he was only a little kid which is age only eight years old and the speaker also stayed at there for a short period which is from May until December.

The Reading / Writing Connection

1.    When I was in Secondary school , I was experienced prejudice in netball team election. They were biased to their ex- teammate rather than new players. They were always  see their ex - teammate advanced more than us which is the new players. Fortunately , I was selected and be their teammate until now.

Ideas For Writing

1.   The form and Rhyme add to this poem is ABCB. A figurative language that was used was foreshadowing.  Example: The title of the poem tells us that something is going to happen during the poem that was not positive.