Key poetic devices used in “Is It Because I Am Black?”

In Cotter Jr.’s poem “Is It Because I Am Black?” key poetic devices such as repetition, rhetorical question and metaphor are used to to convey the theme of inequality to black Americans. These techniques help convey the message that black Americans are being discriminated just because of their skin colour. Cotter Jr. uses key poetic techniques to emphasise and protest the problems that black American people faced in their daily lives in the 1900s. The technique of repetition is used to show how unfair it really is for black people by repeating the line again and again to emphasise the issue. “Is it because I am black?” is repeated from earlier in the poem by doing this the line is emphasised. Another technique is the rhetorical question where the question is left unanswered. For example “Why do men smile while I speak?” leaves the reader wondering why it is because of his skin colour he is thought of differently. A powerful metaphor “the whimpering of a babe” is used to compare Joseph to a whimpering baby, like Joseph is nothing more than a weak useless baby. Like Langston Hughes’ poem “My people”, repetition is used to convoyed a similar message yet Langston's is a more positive message as he talks about how his people are beautiful. Yet both poets use common language and describe their people as black Americans. By using the techniques of repetition, metaphor and rhetorical question Joseph Seamon Cotter Jr.’s poem “Is it because I am black?” protests that black people in America are treated badly just because of their skin colour. These techniques make the reader or audience sad and feel sorry for Joseph because they can see how bad the situation is for black Americans. By creating this poem Joseph is helping to fight the issue by influencing more and more people that what is happening to black people isn’t right.

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