"Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Katharyn Howd Machan
Several key surface features of "Hazel Tells LaVerne" contribute to its relaxed, natural flow and allow one to truly listen to Hazel as she shares a story with LaVerne. First, the lack of any punctuation or capitilization immediately highlights the informal nature of the poem and sets a comfortable tone. Moreover, the intentional implementation of colloquialisms like "sohelpmegod" and misspellings like "hitsm" furter accentuate the relaxed tone and add an aspect of friendly dialogue to the poem (Machan). Also, the misspellings and informal phrases coincide with a southern American dialect, so one may assume Hazel originates from a southern State. Furthermore, the combination of Hazel's southern heritage with the fact that she works as a maid that cleans the "howard johnsons ladies room" leads to the conclusion that Hazel is black domestic helper living in the south. With that identity, Hazel manifests as a stereotypically serious, passionate, hot-headed southern black woman. Add the dialect incorporated into the poem, and one can almost imagine the comical, manerism filled conversation between Hazel and LaVerne. However, Hazel, the speaker in "Hazel Tells LaVerne", does not attempt to be funny; her comedy lies in her seriousness. For example, when the frog tells Hazel how she "can be a princess", she refuses his jest. Hazel knows she will never be a princess or anything of the sort. That hard-headed realist attitude plays into the aim of the poem: to promote realism over idealism.
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