The Poet X Symbols and Motifs
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
By Liane Hicks
The Poet X is a realistic fiction novel that is written in verse. It is about 15-year-old Xiomara Batista, a gifted poet who lives with her family in Harlem, NY. The novel is from Xiomara's point of view and reads like her personal journal of poetry describing her life, her views on religion, having to face constant sexism, her strict Dominican parents, her new forbidden boyfriend, and navigating the world as a young woman of color trying to find her voice.
Storyboard Description
Students can identify and describe symbols and motifs in The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Storyboard Text
- MAMI'S SCARRED KNUCKLES
- "I look at her scarred knuckles.I know exactly how she was taughtfaith."
- XIOMARA'S NOTEBOOK
- XIOMARA
- XIOMARA
- "Late into the night I write and the pages of my notebook swell from all the words I’ve pressed onto them. It almost feels like the more I bruise the page the quicker something inside me heals.”
- XIOMARA'S BABY BRACELET
- XIOMARA
- "Mi Hija"
- Mami is a very devout Catholic that wanted to be a nun and wishes Xiomara had the same devotion. She says that Xiomara should have learned her faith like she did. However, Xiomara can see from her mother's scars that corporal punishment was how her mother was taught faith, something that Xiomara doesn't believe is right.
- Xiomara's notebook of poems is sacred to her. It is where she pours out all of her emotions, thoughts, and opinions that contradict much of what her parents believe. It symbolizes her hopes and dreams of becoming a poet and finding the courage to use her voice in a world that continually tries to silence her.
- Xiomara’s baby bracelet has her name on one side and "Mi Hija" (My Daughter) on the other. When Xiomara was caught kissing Aman, her punishment was abusive and harsh. However, on Xiomara's birthday, Mamí had the bracelet re-sized. It symbolizes their complicated relationship as well as Xiomara’s identity as her mother's daughter and as an individual with thoughts and feelings of her own.
- "I lay it across my wrist and cinch the clasps closed.Her daughter on one side,myself on the other."
- THE POET X Symbols & Motifs
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created