28th Annual Student Research Conference
The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith: a Close Reading
Jacob R. Hurst
Dr. Bob Mielke, Faculty Mentor
The "Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith" first appeared in Gwendelyn Brooks's 1945 volume, A Street in Bronzeville . Upon first reading of The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith, a reader may focus on the poem as a portrait of a dissolute man on a Sunday afternoon stroll, but upon further analysis it becomes far more. The piece is composed of multiple voices, all belonging to the same narrator acting to disrupt the smooth reading of the poem and pull the reader into becoming a critic rather than a passive observer. After deconstructing these multiple narrator voices and determining who the intended audience of the poem is at the time of publication, The Sundays of Satin Legs Smith becomes both an outsiders and insiders examination into African American culture, focusing on the art, beauty, lifestyle, and love of a particular African American man, Satin-Legs Smith.
Keywords: Poetry, Gwendelyn Brooks, African American Literature, A Street in Bronzeville
Topic(s):African-American Studies
English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 115-1
Location: MG 1098
Time: 8:00