“Voices of The Self” Keith Gilyard. Literature & Language Essay

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Literary Analysis of Works
Writers use different writing styles and literary devices in communicating to their target audience. One of the most ways of making a narration memorable is by creating imagery. The use of self-reflection has also become a common and effective way of narrating a story through the writer’s perspective. In “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon poem and “Voices of The Self” by Keith Gilyard, the authors have used self-reflection to advance their themes and create a memorable imagery of their narration.
“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon poem
In her poem, Lyon uses a reflection of her childhood experiences to advance the themes of history, home, and identity. She reflects on the things which make her unique, thus creating a roadmap of better understanding herself. The poem is made up of three stanzas; the first has nine lines, the second has eight, and the third one has twelve lines (Tennant 17). There is neither a consistent rhyme in the lines nor a metrical pattern. However, the use of anaphora and repetition creates a feeling of rhyme and rhythm in the text. Phrases have been repeated throughout, creating a pattern as the reader moves through the stanzas.
Stanza One 
The first stanza opens with the first statement of “I am from...” She alludes to alliteration by using the words “Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride” in reference to washing clothes and them hanging them on the line to dry (Tennant 17). This is an important image since it is in the first stanza; it shows that doing laundry was a common activity during Lyon’s childhood. It shows how alliteration can be used to reflect on one’s memories.
Juxtaposition has also been used in comparing the clean clothes and bleaching “first under the back porch”. This shows that laundry was a family role, and that Lyon got time for outdoor exploring. Further, the last lines in the stanza create an image of the tree near their home, showing the prominence of the tree to her youth (Emert 355). From this stanza, it is shown how writing styles are used to create imagery and enable the reader to walk the memory lane through the mind of the poet.
Stanza Two
This is the shortest of the three stanzas. Lyon talks of “fudge and eyeglasses,” thus giving the reader a clue of the inside of the family house. She also mentions the names of two girls, “Imogene and Alafair,” and them makes the statements “know-it-alls” and “pass-it-on” (Trull et al. 188). In this case, allusion is also used to show the children that the poet went to school with, and her social nature.
Further, such lines as “perk up and pipe down” show other colloquialisms in the stanza. They were hurled at her when she became either too loud or quiet (Trull et al. 188). This helps in showing the two extremes of the poet’s character. Further, the last lines make inference to religion, which was an important aspect in the region. Phrases like “cottonball lamb,” his “flock,” and “He restoreth my soul” shows that the people believed in God...