Zachary McCallum
04/08/2020
English 1121-D398 (Prof. Scanlan)
Poetry Explication
Explication of Where I’m From by Willie Perdomo
 “Where I’m From” gives a deep description of the area in which the author lives. When a woman asks where the speaker is from, he remembers the positive and negative occurrences in his neighborhood. Willie Perdomo’s description gives the poem a tone in which things that appear to be alarming compared to the norm is quite standard to where he lives. With his words he manages to show the readers the hidden allure of where he’s from masked by negative occurrences. The speaker subtly describes the injustice in his community with a tone of aggravation. He gives the readers a glimpse of the relationship his neighbors have with the police in his area. This includes him describing the pointless harassment and murders of the people in his neighborhood. The two lines in the middle of the poem; “Where I’m from, the police come into your house without knocking. They throw us off rooftops and say we slipped,” are one of the most significant lines in this poem. It describes the injustice of the people in his community that seem to be a norm.
In the first line, “Where I’m from, the police come into your house without knocking,” Willie Perdomo shows the readers the abuse of power by authority in his neighborhood. Even though, this line is very straight forward it also symbolizes the lack of freedom that the people in his area have. The police in his community have made people feel unsafe in their own home just because they are able to. In addition, the author uses assonance in the first line with the words from and come.
In the second line, “They throw us off rooftops and say we slipped,” the speaker uses graphic imagery to show the readers the perilous injustice that goes on in his neighborhood. He also shows how the police are able to get away with their wrongdoing by being untruthful.  This line is very straight forward and easy to understand. He narrates his community’s unpleasant confrontations with the authority. Willie Perdomo describes it in a way as if it’s something that he’s not pleased with but accepts. He realizes that there are just some things that cannot be changed where he’s from. Even though, he comes to terms with the tyranny in where he lives, it is clear it still puts him on edge.
1–Is the title of the poem and full author’s name provided in the first or second sentence? Be specific if something is missing.
Yes the title of the poem is provided but not the full author’s name
2–Does the student provide the two lines he or she will explicate?
Yes- “Where I’m from, the police come into your house without knocking. They throw us off rooftops and say we slipped,”
3–What poetry terms does the student examine?
Symbolism, Assonance, and Imagery
4–Copy and paste your two favorite sentences from the students essay. Then explain why you like them. (example: not only is this an example of the college sentence, this sentence highlights an important poetry term (metaphor) in a very clear way–I get it completely)
” With his words he manages to show the readers the hidden allure of where he’s from masked by negative occurrences.”
This particular sentence had a appeal to it. The way it was written makes readers like me want to read the poem to look for what you are talking about.
” Even though, he comes to terms with the tyranny in where he lives, it is clear it still puts him on edge. ”
This sentence structure is great, because it reinforces what you been saying throughout your explication, good job!
5–Copy and paste two sentences that are confusing. Then explain what is confusing about them. (example: you may have mixed up the terms alliteration and assonance, please check to make sure you have the right term for repeated vowel sounds)
1)” Willie Perdomo’s description gives the poem a tone in which things that appear to be alarming compared to the norm is quite standard to where he lives.”
– I kind of see where you going with the tone, but maybe you can be clearer on what the tone is, (ex. sad, mad, etc…).
2) In the second line, “They throw us off rooftops and say we slipped,” the speaker uses graphic imagery to show the readers the perilous injustice that goes on in his neighborhood.
-Since imagery deals with the five senses, you can maybe mention other senses besides sight that may apply to this line , since it is an explication.
6–Make two concrete suggestions. (example: expand the range of connotations rather than name one connotation; example: instead of using the verb “like” three time in the first paragraph, consider different varying the idea by using “love” or “can relate to”; example: when you revise this, change the lower case “i” to “I”–Prof. Scanlan will definitely say something about that.)
1) To add on to your thesis, maybe you can mention what poetry terms you going to be using, so it is easy to follow.
2) If possible, consider the denotation for police, and then compare what it means to be a police officer vs. what they are doing in the poem.