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  1. The poem revolves around the theme of the life of Native American Children who are forced to be in the Boarding schools created by white people. The poem explores the harsh reality that the children had to go through. The children are forced to leave and forget their indigenous cultures and identityRead more

    The poem revolves around the theme of the life of Native American Children who are forced to be in the Boarding schools created by white people. The poem explores the harsh reality that the children had to go through. The children are forced to leave and forget their indigenous cultures and identity behind. They are forced to be “civilized” in order to integrate into the white society. The poem highlights the struggles that the Native Americans had to face under the oppressive regime of the white people.

    Indian Boarding School: The Runaways Summary

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  1. The central theme of the poem delves into the challenging lives of Native American children forced to attend boarding schools established by white authorities. The harsh realities they have to endure everyday become evident, as these children are forced to abandon their indigenous cultures and identRead more

    The central theme of the poem delves into the challenging lives of Native American children forced to attend boarding schools established by white authorities. The harsh realities they have to endure everyday become evident, as these children are forced to abandon their indigenous cultures and identities. The poem highlights the coercive process of “civilizing” them, a means to assimilate them into white society. Through this poem, the poet talks about the struggles faced by Native Americans under the oppressive dominance of the white community.

    Indian Boarding School: The Runaways Summary

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  1. Alliteration - Alliteration is repetition of the same letter or sound in a line. In the poem alliteration is used in the lines “dreams/ don’t” and “worn-down welts.” Simile- simile is used when the poet directly compares one thing to another by using the words “as” or “like”. In this poem, the poetRead more

    1. Alliteration – Alliteration is repetition of the same letter or sound in a line. In the poem alliteration is used in the lines “dreams/ don’t” and “worn-down welts.”
    2. Simile- simile is used when the poet directly compares one thing to another by using the words “as” or “like”. In this poem, the poet uses a simile in the lines “it only hums/ like a wing of long insults.”
    3. Irony – irony is used when what the poet says is in contradiction to what they actually mean. In this poem, the poet uses irony when talking about the dresses worn by the children in the lines “All runaways wear dresses, long green ones,/ the color you would think shame was.”
    4. Repetition- Repetition is a literary device in which a word, phrase, or line is repeated for emphasis or effect. The word “Home” is repeated in the poem.
    5. Metaphor- metaphor is used when the poet makes an undercut comparison between two things without using the words “like” or “as”. In the, the poet compares the railway lines to “old lacerations.”
    6. Imagery- imagery is the use of words by a poet to paint a picture in the minds of the reader. Imagery can be of various types; tactile, olfactory, auditory, gustatory and visual. The poem uses visual imagery to paint a picture of the railway tracks, the sheriff’s car and the sidewalks.
    7. Onomatopoeia- onomatopoeia is the use of words which phonetically resemble the sound. In the poem, the poet uses the word “hums.”
    8. Enjambment – enjambment is when the line is continued onto the next line without any pause. In the poem, the poet uses enjambment to create an internal connection between the lines and the stanzas.

    Indian Boarding School: The Runaways Summary

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