Fifth Grade Autobiography

“Family Reunion” by Rita Dove (2007)

This poem first appeared in the journal Callaloo. The poem treats the themes of family and memory from an adult perspective. While Dove’s “Fifth Grade Autobiography” is also in adult language and from a mature perspective, “Family Reunion” goes one step further, adding the highly educated point of view of the adult speaker, as in the lines: “It's all here, / the beautiful geometry of Mendel's peas / and their grim logic—” (Lines 38-40). Unlike “Fifth Grade Autobiography,” this “Family Reunion” focuses on celebrating the living instead of dwelling on those who have passed on.

“History Lesson” by Natasha Trethewey (2000)

This poem from fellow poet laureate Natasha Trethewey considers a family photograph from when the speaker was four, just as in “Fifth Grade Autobiography.” Instead of concentrating on familial relations and memories, however, the speaker is alone in the photograph and reflects on the fact that unlike the segregated beach of her grandmother’s youth, the beach is now open to everyone. By connecting the speaker’s four-year-old self to a photograph of the poet’s grandmother at the same age, Trethewey successfully blends the personal and the political, as Dove also does in many poems.