Analysis of What does a letter mean?
The entire alphabet A to Z
I’ve been taught it since I was 3
Internalize and memorize
The meaning of each one
But the most important
A
No room for C or D
Amazing
Basic
Coasting
Daydreaming
Empty
Failing
The connotation of each one
Negative, unless you are an A
Straight As
Consistency
Something I don’t have
But strive to be
I want to show up
I want to remember
But clearly, I am all over the place
A-Z
I have never found much issue
In this system I have mastered
Bargaining and begging
For grades I asked for
But it's not working
The grades are winning
I am going backward
Closer, yet farther from the finish line
What is the finish line
If you make it there
Without a medal
Does it even matter
I believe it does
But something tells me different
She says, “Grades are just a number”
She tells me my future is not
Determined by an arbitrary figure
But how can I believe that
When everyone who says this
Still judges me
For not winning the game
Maybe not numbers but they are sure letters
An identifying symbol
The beginning of a word
The determining factor
For the order you come
If you don’t know your ABCs
You will be held back
In kindergarten
In life
I know inside
I have the potential
But permanent ink
Copied into locked transcripts
Existing for 30 years
I find it harder and harder
To believe a grade is just a number
Scheme | AXXB CDAEXEEAEBD XAXA XFXA XGEX EEGHHXIF XCFXFXXAX XIGFXAXBX XIXXX FF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (48%) Tetractys (42%) |
Metre | 001010011 1111111 010010 010111 101010 0 111111 010 10 10 10 10 10 0010111 100011110 11 0100 10111 1111 11111 111010 1101111001 01 11101110 01101110 100010 11111 11110 01110 111010 1011010101 110101 11111 01010 111010 10111 11011100 11111010 11111011 0101110010 1111011 110111 1101 111001 10110111110 1010010 0010101 0010010 101011 111111 11111 0100 01 1101 110010 11001 100111 01011 11110010 1010111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,347 |
Words | 267 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 11, 4, 4, 4, 8, 9, 9, 5, 2 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
About this poem
I wrote this poem at a time when I was feeling very affected by the letters that show up as my grades for the term. I have never been one to let grades get to be, but having grades that I have never had before has revealed how damaging different letters can be to ones self identity and acceptance.
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Written on January 25, 2023
Submitted by seduncan05 on January 27, 2023
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:20 min read
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"What does a letter mean?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/151024/what-does-a-letter-mean%3F>.
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