Countee Cullen protest poetry

Rationale for “A False Hope”
Protest poetry is a medium used to address social, political, economic or
environmental issue. Countee Cullen was a protest poet who aimed for a world
without racism and where people would not be judged because of their race. He wrote
imaginative lyric poems similar to a sonnet form and used poetic language to create
mood and provoke a response. In my poem I aimed to use a similar style to Cullen and
create a piece of work in a similar theme.
I chose the theme of asylum seeking and refugees because it is something I feel
strongly about and I believe needs to change. I do not agree with the treatment of
people who sell all they have to escape danger just to be put in a prison like
environment. Authorities that make the decision about what happens to them
obviously do not put themselves in those peoples shoes. Doing everything you can to
find safety but being taken away without doing anything wrong. The treatment of
asylum seekers and refugees is not morally right and should not be accepted by
anyone.
In my poem I aimed to use Cullen's style to protest my own issue. He writes
imaginative lyric poems in a sonnet-like form. I tried to use this style as well and write
a sonnet that uses imagery to present the theme. The rhyme scheme of my poem is
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG which is the rhyme scheme of a sonnet and the form that Cullen
aims around. I used imagery in my poem "I woke up nauseous, dizzy and famished as
we rocked up and down," which illustrates a picture in the readers head of what the
poem is depicting. Cullen wrote poems in the Harlem Renaissance movement about
the mistreatment and judgement of African-Americans so I used a theme that has the
same roots as his. The theme of my poem is the mistreatment of asylum seekers and
refugees and how they are not given a chance. My poem uses Cullen's style of poetry
to enhance my protest and make my work effective.
Another common feature of my poem and Cullen's, is appealing to emotions, or
pathos. In Cullen's poem "Incident", he appeals to the emotions of people to support
his protest as he provides a negative story of how a young child was the victim of racial
discrimination and it had a large influence on his life. I appealed to the emotions by
taking about a young boy whose family was just looking for safety and were met with a
cold welcome and sent to a detention center. The appeal to emotion goes hand in
hand with my choice of words as it helps with the pathos of the poem. Finishing with
"but that was three years ago," tells the reader how the child has lost hope and the
poem takes a negative turn. Cullen always used specific words to add meaning and
evoke emotion from the reader. I aimed to have these as common features of the
it i f l h t ti i it t l t t