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Poetry Explication of Humanity 101 Analysis
This poem explains the perception of the world and human beings’ path toward it. The poet goes through a struggle to become human. From her life experiences, the poet means well to the world, and she has high expectations. She states that she is on her way to becoming a philanthropist or the president (1,2). Despite her high expectations in life, the poet feels that there are many things that she needs to accomplish in terms of being “human.” For this reason, the poet believes that she has failed in her pursuits. She decides to learn the proper ways of becoming “human.”
The poet takes “Humanity 101” to guarantee her success in life. “Humanity 101” is not an academic course that people take to pass an exam; instead, it is a class that human beings attend to succeed as people. Due to the complexity of the course, the poet fails to meet the required standards. Failure in the final exam shows that she has not gained the traditional skills to cope with her high expectations. To her reprieve, the professor recommends that she should take remedial humanity classes. In this way, she can learn the basics that she missed during “Humanity 101.”
Elements of rhyme and rhythm are present in the poem to emphasize the importance of “Humanity 101” in life. For example, the poet states, “I may have been a nontraditional student, but I was a traditional person” (16,18). Both “a nontraditional student” and “traditional person” are the aspect of rhythm used to express the need to learn about humanity. As an element of poetry, rhythm makes it possible to stress the poem. Another example of rhythm in the poem is the combination of “homework” and “homeless” to describe the nature of learning (48,50).
Also, the poet uses rhyming words to make the poem memorable. The poem has internal and external rhymes to complement each other and provide the poetic sound. Apart from rhyme and rhythm, the poem applies metaphor to explain the poet’s situation. For example, “so I took remedial humanity, which sounds like an easy A” (26,27) employs a metaphor to explain the complexity of the remedial humanity class. Although it seems straightforward, humanity is quite challenging and needs the full attention of the poet.
The poet learns new perspectives on being humane while taking remedial humanity after flunking “Humanity 101.” Remedial humanity is linked to more challenges because the course does not go as the poet believes it should. Throughout her experience, the poet learns about the problems of others and how devastating life can be. Having seen the problems of others, the poet struggles to cope with the reality of life. As a result, she opts to drop out of the course. However, the professor convinces her otherwise. “He convinced me of my own humanity, that one day I might even be able to get a Ph.D.” (98, 99). Ultimately, the poet learns the right ways to look at humanity.
The poem ends with a challenge to the poet; “But first I had to, for extra credit, write a treatise on detachment.” The poem’s last verse shows that the poet needs to work extra hard to see the humanity in a better way. Hard work will enable the poet to reflect on humanity and increase her self-awareness.