Atavism in Afro-American Fragment

1. Atavism in Afro-American Fragment Rex Marshall-Josephina Kim-Ciprian “Chip” Smith-Jade O’Connor-Noelle Grey

2. Theme A general theme in the poem is yearning. Yearning is wanting something that is gone. In the poem, the poet wants the Africa of old; Africa before the colonization. He emphasizes this using the line “So long, so far away, is Africa.”

3. Figurative Language The poet used a lot of figurative language in his poem. One of the types of figurative language was personification; “atavistic land”, “not even memories alive.” Land can’t have multiple generations, and memories can’t really be alive. He also used a metaphor; “subdued and time lost are the drums.” Drums can’t really feel “time lost.”

4. Imagery The poet was very descriptive in using imagery. He says dark face to describe the Africans faces. He also used strange un-Negro tongue to describe the Africans hearing the Europeans’ languages for the first time

5. Sound Devices The poem does not use many sound devices in it. It does use, alliteration beat back into the blood, and some rhyming race, face, place. Sung tongue is also alliteration.

6. Mood When I read this poem, I felt very ominous. I felt the crimes that my European ancestors committed to the African Continent. I also felt a poetic vibe from the poem, like almost stating a little known truth not found in textbooks.

7. Tone The poet wanted his poem to resemble the rich history of Africa. He wanted his poem to scream “Africa”. He succeeded in this by using lines like In strange un-Negro tongue and Subdued and time lost. These lines describe the European colonization of Africa, an important time in African history.

8. Analysis The poem connects to Jack London’s stories in many ways. One of the major subjects they share is the topic of Atavism. In the poem, Afro American Fragment, Atavism is shown in the line, Of bitter yearnings lost. In that line, it claims that the poet is yearning for something lost. Yearning is wanting something from the past. Atavism is the idea of long ago. In Jack London’s story, The Call of the Wild, the main character, Buck, is faced with an immense challenge; pull a sleigh across Alaska. As Buck starts his journey, he has a dream. In his dream, all of his ancestors’ memories came flooding back to him. He could now fight and traverse the land just like them. This is a prime example of Atavism. Atavism also is the spiritual knowledge gained by ancestors’ memories and traits. These passages share a common theme; Atavism.