Hill 1

Grant Hill

Ms. Anya Jones

English III Honors

19 May, 2014

Analysis of Beyond Social Classes by Emanuel Martinez


The poem Beyond Social Classes is a very short poem written by Emanuel Martinez,
and not much is known about the author of this poem. After reading Beyond Social Classes
many times over it appears the author is having some type of internal debate with himself.
Beyond The Social Classes is a poem about the authors internal debate on how he should
view the different social classes; ultimately the author arrives at the right answer.
Beyond Social Classes opening verse: I am blind And I aint blind To the different
social classes Here the author is stating that he sees what he wants to see, I believe we tend to
do this at some point in our life. The 2
nd
verse: And their faces I try and try to be impartial But
my fears and preconceptions Give way to prejudice of thought In this verse the author admits to
his on inner prejudice towards a particular social class, this is something I believe we all struggle
with. In the 3
rd
verse: Love and unity fill my mind yet when its time to effect some change My
feet quiver Ands words cant formulate Here the author demonstrates his desire to do the right
thing, yet he is afraid to make the right decision. In the final verse: Dont we all want to feel the
same Maybe we can toughen up and take down the ranks That impede us from becoming one-
anothers friend In the end the author arrives at the right decision, always do the right thing.
Beyond The Social Classes in many ways symbolizes the civil rights struggle on the 1960s;
internally as a country we knew what the right thing to do was and eventually we had the
courage to ultimately do the right thing.
Hill 2
Several literary devices are demonstrated in this poem, conflict is identified in the
following example: Love and unity fill my mind Yet when its time To effect some change My
feet quiver And words cant formulate Again this verse demonstrates the authors internal
struggle. The literary device theme is demonstrated in the opening verse: I am blind I aint blind
To the different social classes This verse sets the tone for the poem, basically letting the reader
know what the poem is about.

Hill 3

Works Cited
hellopoetry.com. Web. May 10, 2014
http://hellopoetry.com/search/poems/?q=beyond+social+classes


Hill 4
Beyond Social Classes by Emanuel Martinez
I am blind And I ain't blind
To the different social classes
And their faces
I try and try to be impartial
But my fears and preconceptions
Give way to prejudice of thought
Love and unity fill my mind
Yet when its time
To effect some change
My feet quiver
And words can't formulate
I want to tell my brethren
you are special to me
and I love you just the same
As anybody else
But I'm scared of what he will respond
Will he reject me as we are not the same
Will he embrace me and bring forth a seed of change
I am blind
And I ain't blind
To the disdain classes afford one another
Man threatens to discard the fact we're all the same
Hill 5

So I wonder
Can we look beyond facades
Strip it all down to our core
Don't we all want to feel the same
Maybe we can toughen up and take down the ranks
That impede us from becoming one-another's friend