When I die

The poem seems to be told in a different way, to the reader you begin to feel as if you are reading the speakers last will. Meaning the speakers final wishes after the speaker dies. The poem is a list of request from the the speaker. There seems to be a feeling of no regret from the speaker because of the phrases that are used and the way they are used. The fact that this is told after the speakers death makes it reasonable to understand why the speaker wrote the poem with no regrets. The speaker uses many words that relate to death such as die, maggots, evil, death. The effect from these words shows death in a negative way. In each stanza a little after the phrase "when i die" the speaker shows emphasis on her final death wish. The words she uses seem a little harsh or kind because she directs them towards the people who hurt her or loved her. Each topic based on her final wish is broken into separate stanzas, and this also shows emphasis. This poem is very interesting because it is meant to be read after death.  

Mothers

This poem is very interesting mainly because the speaker is not only telling the story of her mother, but the speaker is telling the story through a perspective of a young child. The fact that the speaker uses many first person pronouns shows that the speaker was at one point the child, however there is a repetition of the word "remember" so one can infer that the story is based on a childhood memory. The Motif that seems to be more predominant is curiosity. A child is known to be very curious about many things in life, and the fact that the poem is told as a childhood memory of the speakers mother makes it necessary for curiosity to be the main motif . The speaker seems to question many things about her mother, mainly through the things she witnesses triggers that emotion of curiosity. The speaker uses many words that relate to dark or darkness. Words such as dark, night, moonlight, black. When one thinks of these words they tend to think about something being hard to see, or unclear. The effect from this reveals that maybe everything around the child seemed dark because she could not understand what was going on with her mother, many aspects seemed to be unclear, as to the speakers connection with the mother. This becomes evident in the third stanza when the speaker says "mommy always sat in the dark i don't know how i knew that but she did" the speaker gives the reader many situations dealing with her and her mother, however judging by this poem one can infer that the speaker is missing a key element about her mother that would finally quench her thirst for answers.  

The Great Pax Whitie

This poem by Nikki Giovanni is very interesting It addresses a hidden issue that affects the readers perception. The first stanza is very important, because there is a repetition of the phrase "And the word was" as you continue to read down you notice that each phrase has a word that follows behind it, however each word seems to be more vulgar than the last. The effect from this reveals that as the speaker continues to introduce their claim, rage, anger, and hate tends to build up based off of the words that are used behind the phrase "And the word was" In this poem there is many repetitions of Irony and Duality. The way the speaker uses Irony is by using a positive aspect to create a negative one. The speaker does so through the duality of Life and death, peace and war, etc. The fact that Irony and Duality are predominant within this poem, one can infer that the speaker wanted to emphasis this to the reader. Each form of Duality and Irony are simply just examples, or support to better explain the speaker's main issue and the message that the speaker is trying to convey which was the ignorance, and shamefulness behind people within the black community.

Ego Tripping

This poem is different from the rest because it expresses a strong and confident tone. This becomes evident within the poem but also within the title of the poem "Ego Tripping" The word ego is usually associated with people who show over confidence. The effect from this reveals that the poem is revolved around self confidence within the speaker. The motif that seems to be the most predominant is the references to nature. Nature is seen as beauty, true perfection, and something that can never be truly explained. The fact that the speaker uses references to nature to express their self confidence makes it easy for the reader to infer that the speaker thinks that they are beyond comprehension, also the speaker is on a level that can not be confirmed or denied. The speaker also uses power to express their self confidence. This becomes evident in the first line of the second stanza., which says I sat on the throne. A throne is something that is mainly associated with kings to symbolizes a greater power and high authority. The idea of power also becomes evident in the fourth stanza which says "I gave my son Hannibal an elephant He gave me Rome for mothers day My strength flows ever on" The fact that the speaker says that her son gave her Rome so casually shows how powerful she is or feels because how can one so easily take over an entire nation and give it away. This connects to self confidence in which the speaker portrays throughout the poem.

Kidnap Poem

Nikki Giovanni tiles this poem "Kidnap Poem" and usually kidnap means the act of taking someone against their will. Well in this case it tends to mean capturing an audience in her words against their will. Her poems would force an idea into the audiences mind. The Motif that is more predominant is the motif of influence mainly because her words will capture the reader and make them feel how she feels, see what she sees, and judge things the way that she judges them. Another motif that was important was assurance, because the speaker was sure that she would capture the reader. The effect from this helps the reader better understand why she compares herself to a kidnapper rather then a motivational speaker, which in this case would have the same affect as she would in getting the message across to the audience. The line "If i were a poet i'd kidnap you" is repeated in the beginning of the poem and the end of the poem. The effect from this shows what Nikki Giovanni plans to do, and the information in the body of the poem explains how she in this case will kidnap the reader. 

No Reservations

The tone within this poem is different from the rest, unlike the other poems the tone in this poem is neither angry, sad, or depressed, but empty, there is a very empty and gloom like tone. Meaning it is almost as if the speaker is telling the story of the poem with no emotion. The motif that seems to be more predominant would be emptiness or nothingness. In the third stanza it states "There are no banners to wave forward no blaring trumpets not even a blues note" If you look back at the title of the poem it says "No Reservations" when one hears the word reservation one tends to think about planning something before it happens, or having something ready ahead of time. However in this case it is used to indicate how people who do good deeds receive no recognition. This becomes evident within the third stanza that is listed above. In the last stanza it says "there will be reservations only if we fail" the effect from this shows that someone is mainly recognized when they do something wrong. The fact that the speaker focused more on what people do not receive shows how unfair peoples perception of whats important really is. 

Records

This is a very interesting poem because it is told as if the speaker is telling a story based on a memory, The poem starts off with the first line that says "It's important to record" as the reader reads through the poem they begin to notice that the first line in the first stanza sums up the true idea of the poem. The word "Record" is used many times throughout the poem. When one thinks of the word record they tend to think of memory, someone trying to remember something. The predominant motif seems to be corruption mainly because in each stanza the speaker addresses the issue and supports it through the use of corruption. The speaker indicates that they realize this corruption, and based on the word "Record" one can infer that the speaker is trying to record their morals so that they will not become a victim of corruption. The effect from the title "Records" and the fact that the word "Records" is used many times in the poem indicates that the speaker not only is telling the reader what they should do, but also what they need to do to not become a victim of  this corruption.