Chanel Sherrod

Professor Padget
UWRT 1101
November 18, 2014
Genre: The Importance of Classification

Genre is a staple piece of information used to identify a particular piece. The genre of,
Sorry by Ntzoake Shange is emotional realistic fictional poetry. The words used in this poem are
meant to evoke emotion and really display the authors true dismay with their life and or
circumstance. Shanges use of repetition in the third stanza helps emphasize her feelings of
detriment i will not call / i'm not goin to be nice / i will raise my voice / & scream & holler / &
break things & race the engine / & tell all yr secrets bout yrself to yr face / & i will list in detail
everyone of my wonderful lovers / & their ways / i will play oliver lake / loud / & i wont be sorry
for none of it The expectations of this genre are along the lines of telling a story and actually
appealing to real life, showing you that this could actually happen to me, or I could actually feel
this way.
Shange uses words like tired, low down, and trifling to express her feelings and fulfill the
real world expectations of actually relating to this piece. She uses dialect to give a more personal
feel to the poem and to effectively display her emotion and add a personal touch from her life,
making the poem more identifiable and relaxed. The use of extended metaphors make up
basically the whole poem, they symbolize her real dismay and disappointment of having been

told sorry over and over again. There are many metaphors in just the second stanza itself i am
simply tired / of collectin /i didnt know /i was so important to you / i'm gonna haveta throw some
away /i cant get to the clothes in my closet / for alla the sorries / i'm gonna tack a sign to my
door /leave a message by the phone / 'if you called /to say yr sorry / call somebody /else here
Shange is comparing the all the apologies she has gotten to skeletons in her closet without actual
calling them that, but her indication of not being able to get into her closet because of them
makes it very clear what she is insinuating. This genre puts you in the shoes of the author and or
the narrator if applicable, through the excessive use of imagery and suggestive diction.
This genre tells us a story, lets us peek into the life of the writer and actually be able to
walk in their shoes as they are telling this story. That is what I like about poetry, it can be as
personal or impersonal as you want, and this poem is extremely personal. This genre allows for
the poet to make it all about them and their life experiences. It also allows for them to take
creative liberty because it isnt nonfiction but merely realistic fiction so it just has to be
something that could happen not something that actually did, and it leaves it up to the reader to
decide if it actually did happen or not. Like in the last stanza when Shange uses the word I and
makes it very personal by saying i loved you on purpose / i was open on purpose / i still crave
vulnerability & close talk / & i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorry / you can carry all the guilt
& grime ya wanna / just dont give it to me / i cant use another sorry. She used I throughout the
whole poem but when she takes it to the level of explaining her love it makes it feel like you too
have been used or abused in some way and displays how personal this actually is for the narrator.
The audience for this piece is not only the reader but I think also the person that
repeatedly said Im sorry and made no action to fix the problem that they obviously caused .
More so the latter because she uses the word you and your a lot so she is obviously referring to

someone specific not just anyone reading the poem. This is clearly shown in lines 1-4 of the
poem one thing i don't need /is any more apologies/i got sorry greetin me at my front door/you
can keep yrs thus displaying the narrators true dismay even at the very beginning of the poem.
But in general the genres audience is the person who is reading the piece at the time, more
specifically those who are affected by the poem itself, those who truly take the authors words to
heart.
This piece is part of a rhetorically effective genre because it makes you feel what the
author is feeling at the time, it evokes an emotion that make me, as a reader, feel like I have
gone through the same situation as the author, it makes me feel as though, maybe subconsciously,
I can relate on a deeper level. The rhetorical advantages of this genre are it is able to stretch the
truth or the events that happened and because it is a poem it is able to be free with the structure
and actually take creative liberty with the grammar and dialect to help get the point across of the
author. The biggest disadvantage is that not everyone may understand the point the writer is
trying to get across with all the advantages taken with the writing, it could potentially fog up the
overall meaning of the piece as a whole.

"sorry"
one thing i don't need
is any more apologies
i got sorry greetin me at my front door
you can keep yrs
i don't know what to do wit em
they dont open doors
or bring the sun back
they dont make me happy
or get a mornin paper

didnt nobody stop usin my tears to wash cars

cuz a sorry
i am simply tired
of collectin
i didnt know
i was so important toyou
i'm gonna haveta throw some away
i cant get to the clothes in my closet
for alla the sorries
i'm gonna tack a sign to my door
leave a message by the phone
'if you called
to say yr sorry
call somebody
else
i dont use em anymore'
i let sorry/ didnt meanta/ & how cd i know abt that
take a walk down a dark & musty street in brooklyn
i'm gonna do exactly what i want to
& i wont be sorry for none of it
letta sorry soothe yr soul/ i'm gonna soothe mine
you were always inconsistent
doin somethin & then bein sorry
beatin my heart to death
talkin bout you sorry
well
i will not call
i'm not goin to be nice
i will raise my voice
& scream & holler
& break things & race the engine
& tell all yr secrets bout yrself to yr face
& i will list in detail everyone of my wonderful lovers
& their ways
i will play oliver lake
loud
& i wont be sorry for none of it

i loved you on purpose

i was open on purpose
i still crave vulnerability & close talk
& i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorry
you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna
just dont give it to me
i cant use another sorry
next time
you should admit
you're mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out
steada bein sorry alla the time
enjoy bein yrself