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Jackson & McDaniel Blog

In "Anthem for My Belly After Overeating," Kara Jacksons' poem emphasizes the social construct associated with ones, particularly black women's bodies, and the self-esteem issues that arise with that. Jackson mentions that she utilizes the metaphor for the full stomach to emphasize the expectation of women possessing slim bodies. She is putting attention on this significant issue that affects a lot of women's self-esteem issues. Especially black women are expected to have an hourglass figure, so when ones do not match, they are degraded and therefore lose confidence. Jackson is pushing for the praise of your body, where you can eat until full without lower your confidence because you are worried about what others might see. Through this poem, she is trying to remove the stigma of black bodies being a negative term and the stereotypes associated with it. As she mentioned in her analysis, she does not love her stomach as much as other parts of her body since it does not fit society's expectations and that we should. This is a great poem pushing self-love and body positivity by utilizing a relatable feeling to emphasize that more profound meaning.

In "The Church of Michael Jordan" by Jeffrey McDaniel, the power of faith and religion is seen in the speaker's hobby. The speaker is a basketball player who prays before each game and understands the impact it has on his games. McDaniel utilizes metaphors like "God's arms “and "I let faith roll off my arm" to connect the physical ball to the power of religion, as the hoop is Gods arms, therefore, he controls whether or not the ball can go in, and the faith is what is shooting the ball. This powerful connection to religion emphasizes the control religion has had on the speaker as he mentions that if he misses a prayer, he will not do as good. Religion, therefore, acts as a motivator for the speaker. McDaniel then compares this connection to a miracle from the perception of people who are not very religious, and those who do pray to understand it’s not random; it is a process that has rewarded the speaker.

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Poem Analysis (Jackson and McDainels)

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