Theme for English B Essay Example

a white’s, and thus is discriminated? The answer is yes, and no.

Yes, because he is black, and his lifestyle and points of views are definitely not identical to those of a white man. Thereby, he has to struggle to assimilate to his society yet still keeps his identity . No, because despite those differences, he and the teacher are still parts of each others. They share similarities, as shown above, and through those similarities, they “hear”, or understand each other. Sometimes, the difference make them not want to be a part of each other, yet “that’s true”: they are living in America – a multicultural country that values equality and liberty.

That is why they should learn to deal with the differences and take advantages of the similarities as well as to experience different points of views: “as I learn from you, I guess you learn from me”. Through this process, both of them win and neither loses. The professor is “older and somewhat more free” than the student, so he should be free of biases towards the student’s poverty and background. Throughout the poem, the author chooses simple diction. This makes the tone straightforward and blunt, like a black America who simply expresses himself instead of sermonizing about discrimination.

Thereby, readers can accept the poem’s argument more easily. Furthermore, the author writes the poem mostly in long sentences to emphasize on short yet important sentences such as “That’s America. ”, “Be we are. That’s true! ” The poem has a tied and effective structure. It opens with a familiar scene: a professor asks students to write assignment. However, as the student’s question “I wonder if it’s

that simple” triggers readers’ curiosities, since the assignment seems to be simple.

As the poem progresses, we understand more of the assignment’s difficulties. The conflict comes to the climax at the sentence “will my page be colored what I write? ” and is solved right after that, from line 28 to line 40. To end his argument, the student says: “This is my page for English B”. This ending ties with the beginning, since the teacher told the student to write what is true and important to the student. Thus, the poem appears to be simple, but in fact it is meaningful, well organized and persuasive.