- Introduction
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- Task
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When you read a poem, do you consider what it is saying? You can use your own knowledge to make sense of what you are reading. The title holds a clue to the meaning of a text; that is why it is important for you to think about what you want as your title.
Look at the title of the poem "Identity" by Julio Noboa Polanco. What do you predict the poem's topic based on the title? See answer Based on the title, 'Identity' could be about a person discovering who he or she is, that person's self-image or lack thereof, or someone who is lost. .
Carefully read the poem "Identity."
There are a few key vocabulary words in this particular poem that you may already know; however, the placement of these words makes the meaning much richer.
The First Stanza
Look at the first stanza A group of lines in a poem. of the poem.
"Let them be as flowers,
Always watered, fed, guarded Cautious and having possible reservations. , admired,
But harnessed To tie together. to a pot of dirt."
What can you infer Conclude from evidence. about the word them The speaker's attitude toward 'them' shows the reader that 'they' are not worthy of respect or approval. based on the two vocabulary words?
The Second Stanza
According to the second stanza, what does the speaker of the poem prefer to be? See answer 'I'd rather be a tall, ugly week, clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.' .
The Third Stanza
In stanza three, the word exposed means to be open to danger or harm. Read stanza three again.
"To have broken through the surface of stone,
to live, to feel exposed to the madness
of the vast, eternal sky."
Why does the speaker want to feel exposed? See answer The speaker would rather be exposed to the sky rather than enclosed by people around him or her. .
The Fourth Stanza
In stanza four, shunned means to be avoided or put out on purpose. Read stanza four again.
"I'd rather be unseen, and if
then shunned by everyone,
than to be a pleasant-smelling flower,
growing in clusters in the fertile valley,
where they're praised, handled, and plucked
by greedy, human hands."
What statement is the speaker making? See answer The speaker is saying that he would rather be alone where no one was with him than to be stuck in the middle of a crowd that takes advantage of him. .
The Fifth Stanza
The fifth stanza delivers a powerful message or theme to its readers. What do you think is the theme of the poem?
The whole poem is an extended metaphor The entire work is comparing two unlike things. . The speaker is comparing people to flowers who are put on display because they are beautiful or possess some other admired quality. They may be beautiful, but they are not free to do what they want.
How does the title, "Identity," fit into the poem? See answer The speaker identifies that he wants his identity to be like a week, unnoticed, possibly ignored. .
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