In The President Has Never Said the Word ‘Black’, the author uses rhetorical diction, or lack there of, to illustrate the lack of attention towards a troubling issue in the US. Rather than going into detail in the poem about who the president is and his specific wrongdoing, she leaves it out and allows the reader to imagine these things, thus allowing the reader to have their own unique interpretation fo the poem. By doing so, the author is mocking the president and portraying her anger toward the president, even more than if she went into detail explaining. The reader truly feels the lack of language as it sweeps them off their feet and address’s the problem at hand, rather than the person not persisting to fix it. She also uses the lack of the word black to emphasize how it feels to be treated like she does not matter. The blank adds emphasize to the statement and makes the reader contemplate about why the president does not use the word. This brilliant tactic is a rhetorical device that allows the reading to feel unique and individualized as it renders the reader thinking without even using as much text. Its interesting when the reading said “The president be like we lost a young boy today”. While writing in her unique style the lack of the word black holds a strong place, even though it is not even written. This incredible writing style address’s the problem while indicating how reader’s feel the impact of a lack of something even more than if it was present.
Author: AARON AMIRIAN
“EVERYTHING IS IN THE WORDS WE USE”
The poem about the 38 men that were hanged was indeed a tad misleading at first, but began to click. As I read on I started to truly understand what the writer was attempting to do. The writer chooses to use language that is monotone and a reader that does not have emotion in her voice, but is still able to get across as powerful. Rather than using emotion in her words or in her writing, the writer uses a monotone text and voice in order to state facts. This genius method at getting the message across acted like a suppressed gun as it was silent and struck deadly. In other poems I have read, the authors tend to use emotion and bias in order to hook the reader and entice them to continue reading. However in this text, the author uses blunt facts in order to daze the reader and leave the reader fased. While using this unique fashion of writing the author explains each word carefully, so that the reader interprets each sentence exactly how it was meant to be perceived. The author uses the phrase “everything is in the words we use”, which in this case portrays how she uses factionary diction to express her message. In the end she put a smile on the face of the reader using irony as well as exhibiting an underdog perspective in order to get the support of the reader. A major takeaway from the quote is when the author explains the meaning of Minnesota as water and turbid, then defines turbid. In a later sentence after defining treaties, she describes the treaty between the US and Dakota as “turbid” subtly, in order to portray the injustice done unto the people. Rather than bashing on the treaties bluntly, the author uses ironic puns to emphasise the illigitamase of the US treaty and demonstrate the US’s abuse of power.