“I, too”- Textual analysis. 2^nd English classtest.

The title of the poem is “I, too”. By the title, I expect the poem to be about the protagonist’s sense of belonging to a group. He may not be accepted at first, but he feels part of that group, too.

The protagonist is the speaking voice. He is an Afro-American slave who works at a some white people’s. His masters are ashamed of him, they send him to eat in the kitchen when they have some guests. But he is not sad, he knows he will become strong and his situation will change a day. He will be accepted  and no one will discriminate him. Besides everyone will be astonished and aware of his being part of America, too.

The poem is made of eighteen lines, arranged into two stanzas. The first stanza has got seven lines, the second one eleven. There is a large use of punctuation, which gives a slowly rhythm to the reading, which is also given by capital letters at the beginning of each line. The reading of lines is linked by many run-on-lines. I have not found any figures of speech, any alliteration, assonances, rhymes.

The poem describes the point of view of an Afro-American slave. The main meaning is expressed in the first two lines and the last one, which are also the shortest lines of the poem. They say who he is: he is the darker brother but is also “America”, he is part of it. I do not know when this poem was written, but if it was before slavery was abolished, it perfectly expresses the hope of slaves to see their rights recognized. This happened and now America has got a black president.