Perspectives

Looking at “please don’t take my air jordans” by Reg E. Gaines from different perspectives will provide you with a deeper insight into its themes and literary context.

The literary period

The poem falls within the avant-garde movement in literature and poetry, as it mixes the genre of poetry with that of rap/hip-hop music. The avant-garde movement is usually characterized by experimentalism; writers experiment with writing styles genres and form and try to be as unconventional as possible. As you have seen, Gaines’ poem is experimental as it is situated at the juncture between poetry and rap and it disrespects conventional grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation.

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