Why Does Citizen: An American Lyric Use Poetry And Prose?

2026-01-12 05:31:05 115

3 Answers

Xavier
Xavier
2026-01-13 16:44:54
The blend of poetry and prose in 'Citizen: An American Lyric' feels like a deliberate choice to mirror the fragmented, often jarring nature of racial experiences in America. Poetry, with its condensed language and emotional intensity, captures those sharp, visceral moments of microaggressions or violence—like when Rankine describes being mistaken for a thief in a neighbor’s yard. The brevity punches you in the gut. Prose, though, lets her stretch out into narrative, weaving in historical context or longer reflections, like the Serena Williams section. It’s almost like the form itself refuses to be boxed in, just as the book argues identity can’t be.

What’s brilliant is how the shifts between forms mimic the unpredictability of racism—how it oscillates between overt and subtle, between a shouted slur and a sidelong glance. The poetry sections often feel like those sudden, breathless realizations: 'Oh, this is happening again.' The prose grounds it in a broader reality, showing how these moments aren’t isolated but part of a relentless pattern. The hybrid style also invites readers to engage differently—some passages demand you sit with their weight, while others pull you forward through story. It’s like Rankine’s saying, 'Here’s the emotion, and here’s the evidence.'
Jace
Jace
2026-01-17 23:22:45
Rankine’s mix of poetry and prose in 'Citizen' feels like a rebellion against tidy categorization—much like how racial identity defies simple labels. The poetry captures fleeting moments (a glare on the train, a comment at work) with razor precision, while prose digs into systemic roots. The shifts keep you unsettled, like racism itself: just when you think you’ve grasped it, the ground changes. It’s a stylistic echo of the book’s central question: How do you document something so pervasive yet so slippery? The answer seems to be: Throw every tool at the page and let the cracks between forms speak, too.
Quinn
Quinn
2026-01-18 07:04:56
Reading 'Citizen,' I kept thinking about how poetry and prose serve as different lenses for the same truth. The poetic sections—like the haunting repetition of 'you'—create this uncomfortable intimacy, as if Rankine’s directly addressing you, the reader, forcing complicity. It’s accusatory in the best way. Prose, though, gives her room to analyze, like when she dissects the Hennessy Youngman videos or the 2012 World Cup. One form hits quick; the other lingers. Together, they replicate how racism operates: sometimes a scalpel, sometimes a sledgehammer.

I also love how the visual elements (those stark images of Serena or the empty frames) interact with the text. It’s not just poetry and prose—it’s a multimedia collage of anger and exhaustion. The form refuses to let you look away. By switching styles, Rankine mirrors how Black Americans code-switch to survive, adapting language to navigate spaces that resent their presence. The book’s structure is its argument.
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