INSTRUCTIONS
Respond to the following questions in full and thoughtfully. Your responses should be drafted in 12-point font and double-spaced.
According to “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” what is the role of poetry in women’s survival? Why must women write poems according to Lorde?
What do you ascertain Sanchez means in the poem “Malcolm” when she says – “what might have been is not for him/or me but what could have been floods the womb until I die.”? (This poem was written after Malcolm X was assasinated.)
Nikki Giovanni makes the point that African American lives are often misunderstood by those who aren’t Black in her poem “Nikki-Rosa.” What in her poem might be misunderstood, and why? What are some things about your life/upbringing that may be misunderstood by folks who may not share your culture?
In what way(s) is Giovanni’s poem “Ego Tripping” reminiscent of Langston Hughes�
� “The Negro Speaks of Rivers?”
“All I Gotta Do” expresses frustration over the role of females in the Black Arts Movement and the civil rights struggles more generally. How does this poem function alongside a poem like “Beautiful Black Men”? Can the two coexist comfortably?
Women and the Black Power Movement londonessays.com
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Revolutionary Dreams By Nikki Giovanni
I used to dream militant dreams
of taking over america to show
these white folks
how it should be done
I used to dream radical dreams
of blowing everyone away
with my perceptive powers
of correct analysis
I even used to think I’d be the one
to stop the riot and
negotiate the peace
then I awoke and dug
that if I dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does when she’s natural
I would have a revolution.
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