How does Fitzpatrick demonstrate that a poem is a site of confrontations?

Jameson Fitzpatrick demonstrates that a

poem

is a site of confrontations by using repetition, anaphora, and contrast in the

poem

“I Woke Up,” to examine how everyday aspects of their life, especially race,

gender

, and sexual

identity

, are influenced by politics and encourage the audience to think about the political influences in their lives. One of the confrontations Fitzpatrick discussed is

gender

as seen in

lines

14-15 “I was blond, and it was political. So was the difference between “blond” and “blonde.”” The clause "it was political" is repeated eight times throughout the

poem

. “blond” and blonde” are words that share the same pronunciation and meaning referring to a person with golden hair using the French distinction of male and female. The

poet

cleverly uses anaphora and these words to show that diction can have political power.

in

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this

instance,

that

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being a male has different implications from being a female even with the same hair

color

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colour

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.

This

prompts the reader to consider how

gender

issues still persist in modern society. Another confrontation the

poet

faces is racial

identity

as seen in

lines

17-19 “That I didn’t know how to grieve when another person was killed in America was political, and it was political when America killed another person, who they were and what color and

gender

and who I am in relation.” The connection to politics is explicit here since the

poet

goes beyond

gender

to

also

talk about race. From the previous case of blonds, we can assume that the

poet

is a white American. He is criticizing how the American government has failed to save a person’s life because of the values attached to that person’s race and

gender

. When there is news of someone getting killed, it makes the

poet

not only reflect on his position in

the

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society but

also

unsure or unable how to react to

such

news in an appropriate manner.

This

is particularly relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement where people protested over unjust killings of innocent black people in America. It can

also

be extended to the situation in other countries with sociopolitical issues.

Therefore

, we can see how much meaning and contrast the

poet

juxtaposes in one sentence that runs over 3

lines

in the

poem

. Later, sexual

identity

is confronted by others and the

poet

in

lines

26-27 “Someone called me faggot and it was political. I called myself a faggot and it was political.” The word “faggot” is a slur for gay men. Internet results show that in American English, it was often used by men to assert their masculinity and insult others who they thought were less masculine than them.

Although

gay men have recently made efforts to reclaim the term, many people

can

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still find it offensive. When the

poet

called themselves a faggot, we can see that the

poet

could be trying to reclaim the term for themselves and the gay community as an act of defiance. Based on these examples, Fitzpatrick portrays the complexity of his

identity

in relation to politics using repetition, anaphora, and contrast.