Theme for English B

Situation

Structure
The poem is written in free verse and lacks a systematic form or meter; its language is simple
and casual, and it flows in a stream-of-consciousness style. The structure of this poem conveys
a struggle for identity and truth in a fast-paced world whose ideas are constantly changing.

Literary Devices
Theme
1. Truth
At the very beginning of "Theme for English B," we hear that our speaker's assignment is
supposed to result in some sort of truth. Writing a page from his heart will result in a page that,
his instructor posits, will be "true." Nifty, huh? Well, our speaker doesn't know if he agrees with
that, and thinks that truth is a lot more complicated than something you can just sit down and
churn out. However, as he thinks things through in the poem, we'd wager to say that he
definitely hits on some fundamental truths: about race, about America, about identity. What
comes out of him, then, seems to be exactly what the instructor asks for in the assignment.
True that.
2. Identity
Man, "Theme for English B" sure talks a lot: about race, about America, about truth, and
lots of big questions. Still, at its heart, it's about a 22-year-old man who is trying to find
out exactly who he is. Of course, searching for his identity involves asking questions
about the world around him, but when it comes down to it, he's examining the world
around him by first asking himself how he fits into that super-sized Rubik's cube. At the
same time, this poem links one man's identity to an entire country's identity. As this
man is trying to find out who he is, America is full of racial tension, and hasn't really
reached a stable identity itself. Much like the cube, it's a tricky puzzle to solve!
3. Race
In "Theme for English B," wrapped up in the speaker's search for his identity is the idea
of his race. He's black, born in the South, but now lives in Harlem—the center of black
culture in New York City and the home of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. He's the
only black person in his class, and that includes his instructor. Talk about intimidating!
 When he sits down to write a page that's supposed to be true, he can't help but feel
that, when people aren't equally free, then they're not going to have the same truth.
Finally, he seems to realize that a person's "truth" really can't be separated from a
person's race. And for him, that's the truth.
4. Visions of America
Even before we get on down to line 33 in "Theme for English B," where America is
specifically mentioned, we know that this is a poem that deals with what it means to be
American. Our speaker lives in the North now (Harlem), but was raised in the South.
He's living as a young adult in a time when what it meant to be black and American was
about to change. The Civil Rights movement was about to jump off, but equality was a
long way off. Still, our speaker realizes that, as segregated as the two races are, it's
American to be wrapped up in the identity of someone you don't necessarily get along
with. Even in a melting pot, some ingredients just don't match all that well. Yet, there
they sit, stewing together in the grand recipe that is America stew. Yummy!

Tone
In the Poem the speaker develops a tone that seems to question and criticize whites instead of
complete appeasement.

Mood