a song in the front yard

Untitled Slide

SO WHAT IS THIS POEM ABOUT???

• The narrator is a little girl yearns for freedom
• She wants to go to the "backyard" but her mom thinks it's dangerous.
• But she still wants to be one of the "bad girls".

LITERARY DEVICES

• Symbolism
• Allusions
• Tone

SYMBOLISM

• The front yard is the safe and strict life.
• It is visible to society, so you have to do what society expects of you.
• The backyard is a free, adventurous, and "rough".
• It is hidden by the house, so you have freedom to do what you want.

ALLUSIONS

• Brooks mentions a Johnnie Mae.
• One possible answeris Johnnie Mae Matthews.
• A young African-American jazz singer of the time.

TONE

• The tone is long and simple

QUICK FUN FACT!

• Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry becoming the first African - American to get the award.
• I know this is really tiny, sorry Emma!