After reading the poems by Audre Lorde, Linda Garcia Merchant, and Amy M. Alvarez, which of the three poems is most impactful in terms of writing about police brutality, and why? Which is the least effective, and why? Why is Audre Lorde is the most famous poet of the three?

https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/135948/modules/items/7168317
https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/135948/modules/items/7168315
https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/135948/modules/items/7168313
https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/135948/modules/items/7168312
https://eagleonline.hccs.edu/courses/135948/modules/items/7168311

Power

BY AUDRE LORDE

The difference between poetry and rhetoric
is being ready to kill
yourself
instead of your children.

I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds
and a dead child dragging his shattered black
face off the edge of my sleep
blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders
is the only liquid for miles
and my stomach
churns at the imagined taste while
my mouth splits into dry lips
without loyalty or reason
thirsting for the wetness of his blood
as it sinks into the whiteness
of the desert where I am lost
without imagery or magic
trying to make power out of hatred and destruction
trying to heal my dying son with kisses
only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.

A policeman who shot down a ten year old in Queens
stood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish blood
and a voice said Die you little motherfucker and
there are tapes to prove it. At his trial
this policeman said in his own defense
I didn’t notice the size nor nothing else
only the color. And
there are tapes to prove that, too.

Today that 37 year old white man
with 13 years of police forcing
was set free
by eleven white men who said they were satisfied
justice had been done
and one Black Woman who said
They convinced me meaning
they had dragged her 4’10” black Woman’s frame
over the hot coals
of four centuries of white male approval
until she let go
the first real power she ever had
and lined her own womb with cement
to make a graveyard for our children.

I have not been able to touch the destruction
within me.
But unless I learn to use
the difference between poetry and rhetoric
my power too will run corrupt as poisonous mold
or lie limp and useless as an unconnected wire
and one day I will take my teenaged plug
and connect it to the nearest socket
raping an 85 year old white woman
who is somebody’s mother
and as I beat her senseless and set a torch to her bed
a greek chorus will be singing in 3/4 time
Poor thing. She never hurt a soul. What beasts they are.

Goal:

You are the critic. Argue a stance about one of the pieces of literature posted on our Canvas shell. Be sure that you feel strongly about the text and issue you are writing abouteither negatively or positively evaluating. What is the purpose of your evaluation? Conceptually, you must argue a stance with a purpose, using examples from the text to prove your point. Argue.

The structure of the essay:

I. IntroductionOne paragraph:
1) Open with an attention grabber.

2) Give background or perhaps an illustrative example to show the significance of the subject or the nature of the controversy.

3) Consider stating the conclusion of your argument (claim) here as the thesis of your essay, and it should mention the method/plan/reasons for such an evaluation.

II. Presentation of your argument At least three paragraphs:
1) Paragraph Reason One

2) Paragraph Reason Two

3) Paragraph Reason Three

Throughout the body of your essay, to prove your thesis, build your case one point at a time, perhaps devoting one paragraph to the defense of each of your premises, or setting forth your evidence in (at least three) separate, meaningful categories (one category per paragraph). These three reasons confirm the thesis as subclaims. This means that you must have at least three body paragraphs for this part.

Please remember that each body paragraph should have a standard structure:

1) topic sentence argumentative and mentions which reason from thesis

2) introduction to an example (this may be a transition or explanation of context)

3) the actual example: a summary, paraphrase, or quotation, cited MLA style

4) argue what the reader should respond to regarding the example so that the reader absorbs your opinion rather than forming their own opinion

5) concluding sentence for paragraph argumentative and mentions which reason

III. ConclusionOne paragraph:
1) Remind the reader of the overall argument (thesis) using different wording

2) Summarize

3) Leave the reader with a memorable moment

After all your evidence has been presented and/or your premises defended, pull your whole argument together in the last paragraph by showing how the evidence you have presented provides sufficient grounds for accepting your conclusion. You may also add here some conventional device to finish your essay, such as a prediction, a new example, a reference to the example with which you began (now seen in a new light), etc.

Technical advice:

Remember that you have to use present tense to write about texts.

When you summarize, paraphrase, or quote, you must use in-text citations MLA style. You must also provide a bibliography; you are required to provide the bibliographical information of the text you are analyzing. You are welcome to use additional sources, such as commentary by another critic; however, if you use additional sources, these sources need to also be documented properly so that you do not plagiarize. Give recognition when you are providing others work.

Every subject has a plethora of jargon, but you can evaluate a text yourself using your own words. Your professor may use some literary terminology, but only use the vocabulary if you understand it and can apply it to the text. What is most important is your overall argument about the text.

THE MORE YOU CAN CHECK ON THE FOLLOWING LIST, THE HIGHER THE GRADE WILL BE:
_____Essay consistently has an argumentative tone with a directed purpose.

_____Essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

_____Introduction opens by grabbing the readers attention, later clarifies the topic, and then closes with the thesis.

_____Thesis is an argumentative statement, is specific, and hints at the subtopics in the body.

_____Any emotion in the conclusion has the same tone in the thesis.

_____All topic sentences are related to the thesis.

_____Each paragraph has an identifiable topic sentence.

_____The tone and content of the topic sentence is coherent and consistent throughout the paragraph.

_____The flow between paragraphs is smooth.

_____Enough transitional phrases and sentences are used throughout the essay.

_____Each body paragraph is dedicated to one point that is a subtopic of the thesis.

_____Each body paragraph has either an extended example or three short examples to support each subtopic/point.

_____Each example includes at least one sentence with a cited summary, paraphrase, or quotation.

_____Essay varies the way quotations, summaries, and paraphrases are introduced.

_____Student elaborates the on the purpose of each example before and after each quotation, paraphrase, or summary.

_____Essay is sensitive to academic audiences.

_____Essay uses a tone appropriate for academic papers.

_____Essay avoids slang.

_____Essay avoids clichs.

_____Essay avoids awkward shifts in pronouns.

_____Essay has functional sentence structure.

_____Essay has correct usage of verbs and other parts of speech.

_____Essay uses active verbs.

_____Essay uses literary present.

_____The title of the essay hints at the thesis and is centered.

_____Essay is MLA format: 12-point, Times New Roman font, heading (students name, professors name, course, and date) aligned left on first page only, header (surname and page number) aligned right on every page. (See MLA paper samples online.)