Teia Poem Analysis by Teia Piette

A Song in the Front Yard - By Gwendolyn Brooks

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:02:18 UTC

I’ve stayed in the front yard all my life.
I want a peek at the back
Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.

I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley,
To where the charity children play.
I want a good time today.

They do some wonderful things.
They have some wonderful fun.
My mother sneers, but I say it’s fine
How they don’t have to go in at quarter to nine.
My mother, she tells me that Johnnie Mae
Will grow up to be a bad woman.
That George’ll be taken to Jail soon or late
(On account of last winter he sold our back gate).

But I say it’s fine. Honest, I do.
And I’d like to be a bad woman, too,
And wear the brave stockings of night-black lace
And strut down the streets with paint on my face.

Author Background

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:03:50 UTC

Gwendolyn Brooks

Birthdate: June 7, 1917

From: Topeka, Kansas

Interesting Info: Gwendolyn Brooks was best known as the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her 1949 book Annie Allen. She began writing and publishing as a teenager, eventually achieving national fame for her 1945 collection A Street in Bronzeville. Brooks began writing at an early age. She published her first poem in a children's magazine at age 13. By 16, she had published approximately 75 poems. She began submitting her work to the Chicago Defender, a leading African-American newspaper. Her work included ballads, sonnets and free verse, drawing on musical rhythms and the content of inner-city Chicago (Biography.com Editors).

Died: December 3, 2000

Source Citation: https://www.biography.com/people/gwendolyn-brooks-9227599

Vocabulary, References, Allusions

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:11:32 UTC

Untended: not cared for or looked after; neglected.

Sneer: a contemptuous or mocking smile, remark, or tone.

Denotation

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:19:47 UTC

Stanza 1: The girl is bored of the roses in the front yard of her house, and wants to go in the back yard to look at the weeds.

Stanza 2: The girl is bored and wants to have fun. She wants to walk down the ally by her house, and play with the kids who are poor.

Stanza 3: The girl thinks the poor kids always have fun. Her mother doesn't think so, and tells her that Johnnie Mae and George will grow up to be bad people.

Stanza 4: The girl thinks it is fine that those kids will grow up bad, and wants to be bad as well. She wants to wear black-lace stockings and put paint on her face.

Poetic Device #1 (Sounds of Words)

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:26:22 UTC

Rhyme: This is the one device most commonly associated with poetry by the general public. Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike, including the final vowel sound and everything following it, are said to rhyme.

Examples in my Poem:
For this poem, the rhyming words are the ones at the end of each line.
Stanza 1 - grows, rose
Stanza 2 - play, today
Stanza 3 - fine, nine & late, gate
Stanza 4 - do, too & lace, face
The rhyming here is frequent, but the entire poem doesn't rhyme. Sometimes in poetry, rhyming can be frowned upon because it can easily make a poem sound like a nursery rhyme. We do not know who the speaker is, but after reading, it can be inferred it is a young girl. One aspect that contributes to this conclusion is, in fact, the rhyming. It makes the diction take on a childish effect. Another evidence is the 4th line in the first stanza: "A girl gets sick of a rose."

Poetic Device #2 (Meanings of Words)

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:26:38 UTC

Symbol: An ordinary object, event, animal, or person to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and
significance – a flag to represent a country, a lion to represent courage, a wall to symbolize separation.
Example: A small cross by the dangerous curve on the road reminded all of Johnny’s death.

Examples In My Poem:
The Front Yard: The speaker uses the symbolic front yard versus back yard to infer status. The symbolism begins on the first line of the poem where Brooks discusses that the speaker has stayed in the front yard all her life, suggesting a desire for change. On a literal level, the front yard is a place people can see from the street. It is generally inviting, orderly, and beautiful. This leads one to assume a front yard can represent order, consistency, and status on a symbolic level. The speaker is apparently bored with her life in the front yard as is made clear when she says, “A girl gets sick of a rose”(Line 4). The rose is a beautiful, rich flower; only one with money would be able to get “sick” of it.

The Back Yard: A back yard is a place that you cannot see from the street and requires an invitation. The back yard is, “Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weed grows” (Line 3). The back yard usually is not well kept because it is unseen, symbolizing how the poor are care-free and adventurous due to not being “radar” so to speak. But the back yard is not only seen as the physically ugly place, but it has connotations of bad people. As the mother lists the types of people associated with the back yard, she says, “That George’ll be taken to Jail soon or late/ (On account of last winter he sold our back gate)” (ln. 15-16). The emphasis on back gate alongside theft and jail reinforces the hideousness and bad that link to the back yard. This all suggests that if the girl goes into the back yard she will be exposed to the bad in the world.

Poetic Device #3 (Arrangement of Words)

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:46:38 UTC

Point of View: The author’s point of view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or “teller” of
the story or poem. This may be considered the poem’s “voice” — the pervasive presence behind the
overall work. This is also sometimes referred to as the persona.
• 1st Person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her
perspective (uses “I”).
• 3rd Person limited: the speaker is not part of the story, but tells about the other characters
through the limited perceptions of one other person.
• 3rd Person omniscient: the speaker is not part of the story, but is able to “know” and
describe what all characters are thinking.

In the Poem: The tone and meaning of this poem is entirely dependent on the point of view, or the speaker. It is written in 1st person, from the perspective of a young girl. Consider the lines below:

I want to go in the back yard now
And maybe down the alley,
To where the charity children play.
I want a good time today.

The words “want” and “now” define the selfish tendencies of a child. If it were written from a different POV, the youth of the girl would be obscured. The importance of the speaking being a young girl comes from the fact that young children are usually ignorant to wealth and status. Young children really only want fun and enjoyment out of life. In addition, the specification of the time being “now” suggests that it must be done before it is too late, and profile status becomes eminent in determining social relationships.

Connotation

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 08:53:45 UTC

Stanza 1: The author use the connotations of the front and back yards to suggest the speakers wealthy upbringing. The speaker is bored of her lavish lifestyle, and wants to see what it is like to be poor. (Check symbolism note for further information on the hidden meaning of the front and back yard.)

Stanza 2: The speaker wants to venture out of her comfort zone, and experience the freedom the poorer kids seem to have.

Stanza 3: The speaker is envious of the free and unrestricted life the poor kids get to lead. Her mother disproves of that lifestyle, saying those kids will come up short in life.

Stanza 4: The speaker does not care what her mother thinks, and decides that she wants to rebel against her wealthy lifestyle, by doing things that are taboo among people like her family.

Voice

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 09:04:48 UTC

This poem is written in first person, and it can be deduced that the speaker is a young wealthy girl. The girl's tone is very rebellious and strong-minded, evident when she outwardly disagrees with her mother. Most children habitually agree with their parents on most matters. In this case, the girl not only does not share the same opinion as her mother, but doesn't change it even when her mother "sneers," showing her contempt.

There is a shift between the third stanza and the fourth, when the speaker finally tells us exactly what she is thinking she wants, expanding the rebellious tone. The speaker wants to experience what it is like to be bad and defiant of the posh world she is surrounded by. In the first three stanzas, she seems a little more hesitant and contemplative.

Sources

teia_piette — 2018-11-30 09:14:14 UTC

_{^{"Analysing A Song In The Front Yard English Language Essay." UKEssays.com. 11 2013. All Answers Ltd. 11 2018 .}}