Exploration of the Text based on "Incident" by Countee Cullen

Incident by Countee Cullen

Once riding in old Baltimore,

Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,

I saw a Baltimorean

Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,

And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out

His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'

I saw the whole of Baltimore

From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there

That's all that I remember.

Exploration of the text

1. What is the nature of the interaction between the two boys?

In my opinion, the nature of the interaction between two boys in the poem is based on racial context. The racial status at that time leads to the attitude of the Baltimorean towards the black boy. It can be seen as the Baltimorean is impudent by keep look at the black boy, poked out his tongue and called him “Nigger”. 

2.  Why does the speaker remember nothing more than the incident even though he stayed in Baltimore from “May until December”?

The speaker does remember nothing more than the incident even though he stayed in Baltimore from “May until December” because at that time he was eight year old and still young. The effect of being judged from the Baltimorean boy is deep in his mind rather than others event.

1.  In a paragraph compare your experience of prejudice with the persona in the poem.

The Reading/ Writing Connection

The persona in the poem faces the prejudice act because of his race. As stated in the poem, the Baltimorean called him “Nigger” which is rude and intolerable. My experience of prejudice not based on race like what happened to the persona of the poem, it is based on gender. When I was in form 1, I was appointed to be a leader for my group in a science project. Just because I am a girl and my physical appearance was like 9 year-old child at that time, the members of my group, mostly they are boys, they act prejudice towards me.

Ideas for writing

1. What do its form and rhyme add to this poem?

The form and rhyme give effect to this poem as they clarify the tone of the speaker. For line 2 in the poem “Heart-filled, head-filled with glee”, it shows that the speaker is happy and bright. Then, the feeling is replaced with feeling when he sees the Baltimorean boy as that boy act prejudice towards him from line 8, “And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

2. What is the power of language? What are the effects of the use of the term “nigger”?

The power of language in this poem shows the usage of offensive and confrontation words for example, the usage of “whit” which mean not at all. The poem shows that the Baltimorean is in the same size or should be in social status of the persona. Even so, he is being prejudice and not has respect towards the persona as the white power in that time is bigger. Next, the word “nigger” who means black people that is described in impudent manner.

Works Cited

Schmidt, Jan Zlotnik and Lynne Crockett, eds, Portable Legacies. Boston: Cencage Learning Wadsworth, 2009.

Cullen, Countee. Incident. Schmidt and Crockett, eds.