HE CALLING OF NAMES

T ANIEL HARRISON AND SERENA

d by: J WILLA
epare IMS
Pr
He went to being called a colored man
after answering to "hey, nigger."
Now that's a big jump,
anyway you figger
Hey, Baby, watch my smoke.
From colored man to Negro, POEM
With the N in caps,
was like saying Japanese
instead of saying Japs.
I mean, during the war.
The next big step
was a change for true,
from Negro in caps
to being a Jew.
Now, Sing, Yiddish Mama.
Light, Yellow, Brown
and Dark-brown skin,
were okay colors to
describe him then.
READING OF THE POEM
He was a Bouquet of Roses.
He changed his seasons
click here
like an almanac.
Now you'll get hurt
if you don't call him "Black"
Nigguh, I ain't playin' this time.
 BACKGROUND
Angelou mentions one of the social domination as the
Calling of Names in her poem. In this poem she
describes how the white people start to change the
calling of African-American as black as they represent
their skin.
 FORM AND STRUCTURE
Research Study
The poem is one stanza and consists of 25 lines.
There is no structured rhyme scheme and thus it can
be classified as free verse
 SUMMARY OF POEM

In summary this is a poem about the way racism has evolved while doing the complete opposite throughout the years. Like the phrase
two steps forward and two steps back, the way black or "colored" people have been called throughout the years has been symbolized by
the name of the poem 'The Calling Of Names', aswell as showing that black people just wanted to be accepted all in all, so when a
new name came around without thinking he, speaking to the speaker of the poem, thinks that "nigger" and "Negro" with a capital
letter is a better word opposed to the version of "colored man" ,was more respectful, seeing as he didn't know better in those times. It
also shows how the names progress over time with us eventually getting back to black. And sticking with it so much that you could
get harmed or in a way fought for disrespect if you don't call a black person black.
 ANALYSIS
This poem speaks to racism, seemingly in the time of the second world war, as Angelou mentions the
Japanese and the war. She describes how the man was so to seem excited about being called a "Negro"
rather than a coloured man, he felt as though with the capital letter one could compare it to calling it
"japs" Japanese. In the poem the man spoken of doesn't seem to realise that "Negro" was much worse
than "coloured", seeing as it was just a more standardized version of "nigger".

The poem also speaks to how the names of "coloured" people have changed throughout the years. A
name they were once happy for is now disrespectful, which Angelou points out by saying, "you get hurt
now if you don't call him black." At the end of the poem.
 LITERARY DEVICES
Enjambment- the poem is filled with run-on sentences
“From colored man to Negro,
With the N in caps,
was like saying Japanese
instead of saying Japs.”
Allusion-
World War II
“Yiddish Mama”: Yiddish is a West Germanic language historically
spoken by Ashkenazi Jews.
About half of Jewish people around the world today identify as Ashkenazi, meaning that they
descend from Jews who lived in Central or Eastern Europe. The term was initially used to define
a distinct cultural group of Jews who settled in the 10th century in the Rhineland in western
Germany.
 LITERARY DEVICES
Metaphor: “He was a Bouquet of Roses”
Similie: “He changed his seasons
Like an almanac”
 THEMES
Racism
Discrimination
Prejudice