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Giovanni uses analogies to compare the era and elements of
the 1970s, colors to reflect the emotion and a specific tone and repetition of
the word change, the phrase "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day" and
loneliness. The tone conveyed through throughout the poem is reflective by
describing the drastic change during the 1970s. The pattern of the poem is
complete stanzas, but Giovanni never rhymes and instead writes as a free-verse.
Giovanni, to the reader, is the speaker. Giovanni opens the poem with, "Don't look now/I'm fading away, Into the
gray of my mornings/Or the blues of every night." Giovanni
describes herself as vanishing into the color of morning and night. Giovanni
uses the colors of gray and blue to shift the mood to gloomy. Giovanni then says,
"It seems no matter how I try I become
more difficult to hold, I am not an easy woman to want." She
expresses her emotion and feminist theory perspective of the difficulty to be
loved in a relationship sense. Giovanni provides her female perspective on how
it is difficult to be in love or in a relationship. We as the reader
notice that she capitalizes "I" when she begins to express her
emotion or perception. This may suggest to the reader of her arrogance and
self-pride. She then suggest to the reader in the next stanza that, "They have asked the
psychiatrist psychologist politicians and social
workers/What this decade will be known for/There is no doubt it is
loneliness." The allusion created is the jobs that change and
help people create a thematic topic of hope and wisdom they will provide for
the people. She ends the stanza with the allusion creating loneliness.
Loneliness is constantly repeated to highlight that loneliness is having
emptiness. This suggests that loneliness isn't new for whatever group of people
Giovanni is targeting. Towards the end of the poem, Giovanni shifts the tone as
optimistic about hope and change. Giovanni repeats the word change constantly
throughout the 10th and 11th stanza. Change is used to promote the meaning of
transformation and morph oneself into a different person. Giovanni says, "Or perhaps But whatever you do change
/Something needs to change/Everything some say
will change, I need a change of pace face attitude
and life/Though I long for my loneliness." Giovanni suggest to
the reader another theme of/one will have to change in order to grow and
mature. In Giovanni's perspective, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day highlights
specific and alluding word to portray different parts of life. The title conveys
a duality of sweet and happiness versus gloom. The cotton candy represents the
sweet and happy times in your life while, the rainy day represents the
miserable times of life.
As much as i tried to understand, "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day", its kind of understandable. with the title relating to how Giovanni feels is relatable. In this author's poem, she describes how she feels; she feels lonely, even when it comes to a relationship. in her life, there may be miserable times that occurs, but there are still times where she is happy and uplifted, and the title represents how she feels.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that Giovanni uses the colors (blue & gray) to contribute to the mood of the poem .Nikki Giovanni clearly isn't afraid of expressing her personal opinions throughout her writing. One thing I noticed is that certain stanza's have extra breaks in between them. Was that done purposely or is it just a typo? One question I do have is why is the title named Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day ... What exactly inspired the title ?
ReplyDeleteGiovanni writes the way she speaks. Therefore, yes that was done purposely. The name Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, the way I interpreted the title was the cotton candy represents the sweet and happy times in your life while, the rainy day represents the miserable times of life. What may have inspired Giovanni with the title was her perception and emotion towards growing up in the 1970s. Giovanni usually writes to connect with the reader about significant events and personal experiences. In reality, the Cotton Candy could be in search for new possibilities and the Rainy Day could be the harsh realities in the 1970s like the Movement and being a black female in the 1970s.
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