What is the meaning of the poem Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa?

“Facing It” is a poem that deals with war-related trauma and the act of confronting painful emotions. But it is also a poem that addresses racism and the ways in which American society fails to properly acknowledge the sacrifice Black soldiers made in the Vietnam War.

What is the theme of Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa?

Major Themes in “Facing It”: Life and death, survival, and loss are the major themes underlined in this poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker is reminiscing the sacrifices of soldiers involved in the Vietnam War. Despite his resistance, he gets emotional while looking at the memorial.

What is the form of the poem Facing It?

‘Facing It’ by Yusef Komunyakaa is a 31 line poem that does not adhere to any particular rhyme scheme or strictly metered pattern. Komunyakaa has composed this poem by alternating between short choppy lines and longer, drawn out phrases. Both of these styles of writing utilize enjambment.

Who is the speaker of Facing It?

Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Facing It” describes a Vietnam War veteran’s painful experience of visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. From interviews and biographical details, we can assume the speaker of the poem is Komunyakaa himself.

What does the title of Facing It mean?

“Facing It” means that hes literally facing the wall of vet names. But also means that he has to face and accept the facts of what happened during that war, all the memories and flashbacks. This says that you have to face your fears at some point in life, you can’t runaway forever.

What does my clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey?

I’m flesh.My clouded reflection eyes melike a bird of prey, the profile of nightslanted against morning. I turnthis way—the stone lets me go. I turn that way—I’m insidethe Vietnam Veterans Memorialagain, depending on the lightto make a difference.

What is a chimera in Yusef?

That word chimera comes originally from Greek mythology and is a monstrous creature with the body of a lion, the head of a goat protruding from its back, with the lion’s tail having a serpent’s head. In this poem chimera means an imagined terrible creation….the whole of the US military mythologized.

Why was facing it written?

Background. The poem was his second to deal with the topic of the Vietnam War. He first wrote a poem dealing with Vietnam fourteen years after returning from the war. “Facing It” was written approximately a year after visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Why was Facing It written?

Which event is described in both ambush and Facing It?

What emotional truth is conveyed in both “Ambush” and “Facing It”? Those who experienced or fought in the Vietnam War are forever affected by it in some way.

What is my father’s love letters about?

The poem “My Father’s Love Letters” by Yusef Komunyaaka paints a complex portrait of a dysfunctional family. This can be derived from lines 29-30: “My father could only sign/ His name,” and line 36: “Laboring over a simple word.” That explains why he asks the son to write letters to the mother.

Is Yusef Komunyakaa’s camouflaging the chimera What is the significance of the tiger suit?

In Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Camouflaging the Chimera”, the significance of the tiger suit is the effort that American soldiers did to look like animals, and they are depicted this way in the poem.

When did Yusef Komunyakaa write the poem Facing it?

A LitCharts expert can help. Yusef Komunyakaa published “Facing It” in his 1988 collection Dien Cai Dau. Komunyakaa was inspired to write the poem following a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial some 14 years after his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War.

What did Yusef Komunyakaa do during the Vietnam War?

He worked for the military newspaper Military Cross during his stint with the armed forces in the Vietnam War. He is also a winner of many prestigious awards, that include the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, Ruth Lily Poetry Prize, and Louisiana Writer Award. He wrote the poem ‘Facing It’ almost a decade after the war.

What kind of awards did Yusef Komunyakaa win?

He worked for the military newspaper Military Cross during his stint with the armed forces in the Vietnam War. He is also a winner of many prestigious awards, that include the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, Ruth Lily Poetry Prize, and Louisiana Writer Award.

Where does the poem Facing it take place?

The poem begins with the speaker already on location in front of the memorial. It is important to understand that while this poem might be being told from a contained first person perspective, the setting in which it is located is far from solitary.