Specialty Post #4...Rational for Nikki Giovanni Answers..

The rational for question 1 appeared on Wikipedia.org, Nikki was quoted in saying "she has never felt anything like the love for her son"(when he was born). That is what i based my answer off of because i think it shows the value of her family and not of a spouse. Question 2 i got the rational from our text book Literature for Composition(page 751). In her poem Love in Place, Nikki explains that she doesn't remember falling in love and so that is why i gave the answer of her not being able to recall because it's like how can you recall and event that never took place in your life. For question 3, it came from the biography on her website nikkigiovanni.com. She says "my focus is on individuality,specifically, on the power one has to make a difference in oneself", and I felt like she thinks marriage or being endulgent in love strips a person from their individuality and self-thought.
For question4, this came from the book also in her poem Love in Place. In lines 5-9, she says" I know i must have fallen in love once because i quit biting my cuitcles and my hair is gray and that must indicate something and i all of a sudden had a deeper appreciation for Billie Holiday and Billy Strayhorn so if it wasnt love i dont what it was". From that i inferred that she is basically saying when you switch up your daily routines, signs of stress(like gray hair), and appreciate love songs, you must be in love and making alterations to fit that love. Question 5, came directly from a quote in her peom"Nikki Rosa". I watched the video of her reading this poem and it is about the relationship between love and wealth, she is reflecting on how much love she was surrounded by as a child, despite her poverty. Despite her poverty, she was always happy because she was loved. I inferred that maybe if society put more love in the air instead of violence and death and filth, people would be much happier and not so dark.
Although, i do not have much rational for question 6, i basically made an assumption because of how she explains the unconditional love for her son, which is ultimately tied to the rational for question 1. For question 7, that came from a direct quote of hers about her overcoming her cancer. Question 9 cam from wikipedia.org, she says "marriage is an institution that is inhospitable to women and would never play a role in her life".

Works Cited:::
{1}Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition. 8th ed. Pearson and Longman, 2007. 751-752.

{2}"Nikki Giovanni Biography." Nikki Giovanni.Com. 2003. 25 Feb. 2008 .

{3}"Nikki Giovanni." Wikipedia. 25 Feb. 2008 .

{4}Nikki Rosa. Perf. Nikki Giovanni. 2003. Nikki Giovanni. 26 Feb. 2008 .