Million Man March Poem

1. Million Man March Poem Diction Word Choice & Arrangement Stanzas 1-4

2. Are Words Being Repeated? Which word? Dark Where? Stanza 1and Stanza 3 What is the effect of this? To constantly remind the reader of the darkness in the black peoples lives

3. Mood and Tone Does word choice contribute to this? Yes, at the beginning, it shows how the white people try to break the black people. E.g. shame, bound, dark – steep. These words help suggest a hopeless life In what way? Angelou describes how the black people are struggling for equality and how they get hurt because of the white people, but these wounds make them stronger and braver, by doing this, Angelou manipulates the words

4. Arrangement Comment on the way the words are arranged, what effect does this have? The words in some of the stanzas rhyme, to draw the reader’s attention, the word arrangement makes the reader feel more sympathetic

5. Themes and Ideas How do the words that are used contribute to, make visible or develop the main idea in the poem? Words such as ‘steep’ and ‘deep’ in stanza 1 suggests how hard it is for the black people to reach their goals which is equality. This leads to the theme oppression.

6. Pronouns What are the pronouns being used? I, your, they, us, Are they inclusive or exclusive Inclusive What is the effect of this? It shows that more than one person is invloved

7. Connotations Are the words used in this part of the poem mostly positive or negative? Negative What words are being used to create this overall tone? Hopeless words such as dark, shame, slavery’s chains How do the words used create this tone? By repeating these words, it constantly reminds the reader about what the black people are going through, this shows the theme of the poem