... face these roadblocks early on in life, possibly as early as elementary school, and all of these challenges make it difficult to reach identity and self-understanding. The poems we studied in class reflect the ways in which society's expectations and social stigmas complicate a person's quest towards identity and true ... in other parts of the poem, in lines such as, "and I was embarrassed/by old men standing up to shake my hand/and tell me they were "sorry for my trouble."" These lines suggest that the narrator is embarrassed by his position of eldest in the family and ... sarcastic o...

• Word Count: 2322
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate