Amanda Gorman stole attention at President Joe Biden’s inauguration as a black woman and as the youngest person to grace the inauguration ceremony with her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” Gorman opens “The Hill We Climb” by acknowledging America’s recent history’s tragic periods. Coronavirus, demonstrations, and social and economic inequalities are all hidden under Gorman’s opening line’s “never-ending shadow.” Gorman recognizes that America is not an ideal country but hopes for its systems to become better than they are. She distinguishes between unattainable goals and intentional progress. Gorman cites her achievements: an African-American woman nurtured by a single parent and born of enslaved African-Americans may aspire to be President one day. Meanwhile, she may be seen reciting for Vice President Joe Biden. The theme of this poem is hope relating to past events and acknowledging that there will be change.
Additionally, Amanda Gorman’s poem uses stylistic devices such as alliteration and literary allusion. For instance, she uses “compose,” “colors,” “cultures,” “country,” “committed,” “characters,” and “conditions” in one sentence to create musicality. Here, she emphasizes the need for unity in the United States of America despite people’s differences. When a poet makes a vague reference to anything, it is called an allusion. In this article, she alluded to the world’s and the country’s challenges in 2020 and bigger concerns related to Trump’s reign. She uses anaphora, a form of repetition in which the poet repeats the same word or words at the start of multiple lines of text to create memorability. For example, Gorman uses “Somehow” in lines 12 and 13 and “That even as we” in lines 37 through 39. These literary devices enhance her poem’s musicality and memorability.