I, TOO, SING AMERICA

POEM

• I, too, sing America.
• I am the darker brother.
• They send me to eat in the kitchen
• When company comes
• But I Laugh,

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• And eat well,
• And grow strong.
• Tomorrow,
• I'll be at the table
• When company comes.

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• Nobody'll dare
• Say to me
• "Eat in the kitchen,"
• Then.

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• Besides,
• They'll see how beautiful I am
• And be ashamed -
• I, too, am America.

WHO IS THE AUTHOR?

HIS LIFE STORY

• Family Condition
• Career
• Awards

INTERESTING FACTS

• Homosexual
• Playwright
• "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

BACKGROUND

• Published in 1945
• Harlem Renaissance
• Before Civil Rights Movement
• Racism & Prejudice

SETTING & SPEAKER

• Big home
• Black domestic servant
• Dreamer

WHAT IS THE POEM ABOUT?

SYMBOL

• Oppression
• Kitchen & Food
• Health = Hope

THEMES

• Race
• Ambition
• Freedom

What is the mood of this poem?

LITERAL OR SYMBOLIC?

LITERARY DEVICE

• Free verse
• Conceit

WHY THIS POEM IS SO FAMOUS?

WHAT DOES THIS POEM TEACH YOU ABOUT AMERICAN CULTURE?

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