logo

18 pages 36 minutes read

June Jordan

Poem about My Rights

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Poem Analysis

Analysis: “Poem About My Rights”

One of the most conspicuous aspects of this poem is its length and lack of stanza breaks; this analysis section uses various narrative turns to determine sections of the poem. Additionally, though, while the poem does not explicitly name June Jordan as the speaker, this is implied by the description of “My Rights” in the title as well as the first person perspective used throughout. This guide refers to the speaker or speaker of the poem; other analyses could engage with a reading of the poem interpreting it as an autobiographical piece by Jordan.

In Lines 1-20, the speaker enters a direct stream-of-consciousness narrative. While this style is largely retained throughout the poem, it is most pronounced in this section as the speaker uses repetitive phrasing to build the intensity of ideas. The straightforward tone in this section is enhanced by multiple negative statements: The speaker “can’t go out” (Lines 2-3), “can’t do what I want / to do” (Lines 7-8), and “could not go” (Line 15). Building on this is the speaker’s use of other descriptors like being “the blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text