Knock Knock

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Poetic Form and Structure

“Knock Knock” is written in free verse, with no regular meter or rhyme pattern. The poem employs simple diction (word choices) throughout, but its language gradually changes from that of a small boy, who observes vivid details but lacks a clear understanding of their meaning, to that of an adult man, whose speech includes abstractions and subtext. For example, the boy notices “corn fields” (Line 12), a “highway” (Line 13), “Rusty gates” (Line 14), and “a room of windows and brown faces” (Line 18), but “incarceration” or “racial inequity” are not in his vocabulary. In contrast, the adult speaker puts abstract nouns—such as “racism and poverty” (Line 53) or “opportunity” (Line 54)—to powerful use and subtly implies certain points instead of stating them directly, such as the importance of writing (Line 49) and the need to avoid his father’s errors (Line 60). Simple diction and formal looseness are typical for a slam poem like this one, but Beaty uses other devices to give the speaker’s statements poetic shape and tone. The poem’s 69 lines are divided into stanzas, irregular in length, which signal shifts in action and perspective as the speaker develops from a confused boy to a thoughtful and confident adult. In addition, several types of repetition contribute to the poem’s rhythm and rising energy, especially epizeuxis and anaphora.

Epizeuxis

Epizeuxis is a rhetorical device of repeating the same word or phrase in immediate succession to create emphasis or a sense of vehemence. It is often used in exhortations (“Never, never give up!”) and pleas (“I beg you, I beg you to hear me out.”). It is also common in the Bible: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalms 22.1). The very title of “Knock Knock” is an example of epizeuxis, but the poetic effect of that phrase is strongest when the knocking is metaphorical, as in “Knock knock down doors” of racism and poverty (Line 53). Here the repetition implies that the called-for action will be difficult and require sustained and continuing effort. That effect persists in Lines 54, 56, 57, and 60, as the speaker explains that he must undertake this knocking down of injustice for the benefit of his father, his children, and everyone whose access to opportunity has been unfairly blocked. Beaty skillfully takes a common phrase, acknowledges its humorous side (Lines 67-69), and turns it into a powerful poetic tool to convey the urgency and significance of his message.

Anaphora

The phrase “knock knock” is also used anaphorically in the poem. Anaphora refers to the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive poetic lines. No less than eight lines in the poem begin with these words, including three lines that contain nothing else. The most prominent use of anaphora, combined with epizeuxis, occurs in Lines 53, 54, 56, 57, and 60, where it amplifies the speaker’s pro-equality message. In addition, the repetition of “I knock knock” in Lines 23 and 25 conveys the despair of the little boy who cannot jump into his father’s arms because of the window separating them in a prison visiting room. There are other instances of anaphora in the poem. The phrase “Papa, come home” (Lines 30 and 32) emphasizes the void the father’s absence has created in the boy’s life. The repetition of the word “How” in Lines 34-37 reflects the many questions that the boy wishes he could ask his father, and the anaphoric use of the word “And” in Lines 41-44 signals both the passage of time, 25 fatherless years, and the causality of the boy’s loss creating a need to heal and to father himself. Thus, anaphora is the predominant literary device in the poem, contributing to both its performative rhythm and its semantic coherence.