Author: Erin Clifford

Erin Clifford

I wanted my found poem to be on something that I could relate to, so I chose to do my poem on the song, “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa.  This song was written and dedicated to Paul Walker. Paul Walker passed away in 2013, and many people were affected by his death. Dealing with death is a very difficult thing to go through and this song portrayed the feelings of grief and gave hope.  

For my poem I wanted to leave a lot of blank space on the page to emphasize the meaning of the words on the page.  I also chose to block out some words and to make some of the words bolded.  Where I blocked out the word from the sentence it was to make the words around it stand out more.  The words that have been bolded are also meant to stand out and be important.  The bolded words are very important to me because they emphasize how real and long term death is.  While writing this poem I felt very sad because I could relate to this song.  My best friend passed away unexpectedly last year, so I know what it is like to lose someone you never thought you would, and so suddenly.  Doing this poem has definitely helped me to understand ZONG! because when  I first looked at these poems I felt like they were just words on a page, but now I realize that all of the separation and blank space has meaning to the poem.

Erin Clifford 

In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry focuses on an African American family going through all of the battles they face in life with their given circumstances.  The Younger family has a lot of struggles due to being an African American family living in Chicago in the 1950s.  Many African American families during this time faced lower living conditions, and the Younger family was no exception to this.  The Younger family consists of: Mama, Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, and Travis.  All five of them were living in a small apartment, and had to share a bathroom with another family.  “At left, a door leads to a bedroom which is shared by Mama and her daughter, Beneatha. At right, opposite, is a second room which serves as a bedroom for Walter and his wife, Ruth” (Hansberry 24).  This shows that the apartment they all share is much too small.  There aren’t even enough bedrooms for Travis to have a bed to sleep on, he sleeps on the couch in the living room. 

When Mama got the insurance money, she saw an opportunity to do something beneficial for the whole family. She wanted to put a down payment on a house, it showed that the family was going to have more and get something they deserved to have.  Almost all of the Younger family was excited to get a new house, with more room, and a yard, and something that was really their own.  However, Walter was not very thrilled about the house because he wanted to be able to spend the insurance money on his dream, but mama went out and spent some of it on something for everyone.  Walter did eventually come around and want to move along with the rest of the family.  

 Getting the house came with some struggles throughout the story.  The majority of the problems arose, most likely because of the location of the house.  The house was in Clybourne Park, which was an all-white neighborhood.  Karl Linder was part of the Clybourne welcoming committee, and one day he went to the Younger’s apartment to talk.  “…that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities” (Hansberry 118).  Karl Linder went over to the Youngers’ apartment and tried to sound like he was on their side, before he broke the bad news that the Clybourne community did not want the Younger family to move into their neighborhood.  The Younger family did not take what Linder said very well.  When Linder acted like he was on their side, it seemed as though he was starting to gain the trust and respect of Walter and Beneatha, then Linder told them that they shouldn’t move into their new house, and betrayed the Younger family. He tried to bribe the family with more money than they paid for the house in return of staying where they were at.  Linder tried to be civil about giving the family the bad news, but the message was degrading to the family still.  Despite the Clybourne community not welcoming the Younger family they still chose to move out of the old apartment and into the nice house, that is more fitting for a whole family to be in.  When the family decided they would still be moving into the house they saw Karl Linder one more time.  Linder thought they would be taking the offer of money instead of moving, but that is not what happened.  Linder even tried to convince Mama to override Walter’s statement that they were moving.  It almost seemed as though Linder was threating the Younger family about moving in “I sure hope you people know what you’re getting into” (Hansberry 149).  The way that Linder made this statement to the family before he left tells us that maybe the community is going to be planning something bad towards the family once they move in, to make them regret moving into the neighborhood.  It is very inspiring to see that the Younger family was able to stand their ground and do what they wanted, even though the odds were against the family getting this house.  

Discussion Questions: 

1. How would you feel about with living with so many people in such a small space?  

2. What would you do if someone came to you and tried to bribe you into not living somewhere because of your culture? Do you agree with what the Younger family did in regards to moving to Clybourne Park? 

Work Cited: 

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print. 

I am from Syracuse NY and I’m a freshman. My major is inclusive early childhood education. This semester I have decided to take all of my classes from home. I enjoy swimming, making coffee, and hanging out with my friends. During break I watched a lot of Netflix and got a job at Office Max. I am looking forward to the readings in this class.