Symbol Analysis
Rosa Parks was a normal lady. She didn't have any superpowers—in fact, as an African-American woman in the 1950s, she didn't have much power at all—but she did a really big thing for the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white person. That, too, is a pretty small thing. It was a small, nonviolent act of refusal. She didn't organize the Million Man March, or draft a bill to abolish Jim Crow laws, but that small act sparked serious Civil Rights change. "Rosa" is written to highlight this big thing-small package phenomenon. The poem itself is small, the lines and stanzas are short, the language is modest. And because of its spare nature, it packs a seriously forceful punch.
- The title: Of all the options available to Rita Dove—"Rosa Parks," "A Civil Rights Hero," "One Woman, One Movement"—she opted for something significantly more understated. Just her first name, which, in itself is small and simple, but because we know what the person belonging to that name accomplished, we know the strength behind it.
- Line 1: This isn't quite a firecracker of an opening line. It's quiet, composed, simple, and it sets the stage for the force of the poem to build.
- Line 4: This one's part of a "trim" line, too. Dove is bringing attention to what she has already hinted at in the title of the poem: the woman with the "trim" name is capable of big change.
- Line 6: She's not wearing a Superman cape (though we're sure that could have been a fun look for her on Halloween). Dove wants to make sure she paints the picture of a modest, normal woman. It makes it all the more stunning to reflect on her brave act.
- Line 7: This kind of makes it sound like what she did was no big deal. How hard is doing nothing? That's what weekends are made of! But seriously, this "nothing," sitting on a bus, might seem like a small thing, but history proves otherwise.