Essay Questions

What does the broken glass symbolizes in the poem "Boy Breaking Glass’’?

The broken glass is not described in this instance as being something negative, something of which the boy should be ashamed of. Instead, the broken glass is seen as a revolutionary action which gives power to the boy and to those who are like him. The poem has political undertones and considering this, we can reach the conclusion that the broken glass may be a reference made to the revolutionary acts started by black people who wanted to have the same rights as their white counterparts. Those revolutionary acts became at times violent but the narrator does not see this as something shameful, but rather as something which was necessary for the advancement of the movement.

Who does Rudolph Reed stand for in the ballad entitled "The Ballad of Rudolph Reed’’?

The main character in the ballad is a man named Rudolph Reed, a father and a husband who moves into a new house. Until the end of the poem, the narrator does not reveal the race of the man and his family but towards the end it is clear that both Rudolph and his family are black who moved into a white community in order to have a better life. The main theme in the ballad is racism, Rudolph and his family being prosecuted because of their race. When Rudolph decides to fight back, he is killed by the white people in his community and his wife ends up alone with their child. Rudolph is used here to show the way in which black people were treated after the abolition of slavery and how they are still treated today. Even though they can leave their black communities, they are never fully accepted by their white counterparts. They continue to be persecuted and treated in a violent manner and when they do decide to fight back, they are criticized even more and labeled as being violent and uncontrollable.

In what sense are the narrator’s children poor in the poem "Children of the Poor’’?

The term "poor’’ is not used here to describe a lack of financial resources but rather a lack of cultural and social legacy. The children of the narrator consider themselves as being "poor’’ because they are descendants of black people and thus they do not really have a place in the society where they grew up in. These children see themselves as outsiders and look for a ‘’contour’’ or something to define them. In absence of this contour, the children feel poor because they can’t compare the history of their people with the history of the people around them. Thus, the children ask for something positive which can define them, something which will make them feel proud.