Course: Periods in English Literature | Institution: Florida International University Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate | Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with free verse poetry and the concept of a poetic speaker.
Big Picture
Nikki Giovanni's Choices is a short, deceptively simple free-verse poem that explores the gap between desire and reality, and the quiet resilience people summon when their options are limited. It sits within a broader study of modern and contemporary American poetry, where personal voice, identity, and constraint are recurring concerns. If you are coming to this cold, all you need is a basic grasp of how a poem's speaker differs from the poet, and a willingness to read closely for tone.
In Choices, the speaker reflects on wanting full freedom to live and act as she pleases, but recognises that real-world constraints (social, economic, racial) prevent that. Rather than giving in to frustration, she settles on workable alternatives, framing compromise as its own kind of agency. The poem's final image, that humans alone among animals learn to cry, underscores the emotional weight of living with limited options.
Speaker (in poetry)
The voice or persona delivering the poem, which may or may not be the poet themselves. Think of it as a character the poet has created to narrate the piece.
Free verse
Poetry that does not follow a fixed metre or rhyme scheme. In simple terms, the lines can be any length and do not need to rhyme, giving the poet flexibility to mirror natural speech.
Stanza
A grouped set of lines within a poem, separated from other groups by a blank line. Think of it as a paragraph in prose: it clusters related ideas together.
Angst
A deep, sometimes existential sense of anxiety or dread, often tied to feelings of powerlessness. In simple terms, it is the heavy unease that comes from knowing things are not as they should be.
Agency
The capacity to act independently and make one's own choices. In the context of this poem, it refers to the speaker's desire, and limited ability, to direct her own life.
Alternative / compromise
A substitute course of action taken when the preferred option is unavailable. In this poem, choosing the alternative is itself presented as a meaningful act of self-determination.
The speaker desires complete freedom of choice: to go where she wants, do what she wants, and live without external limitation.
Beneath that personal desire sits a broader claim about equality of opportunity. Everyone's path should be equally open, and the speaker is aware that hers is not.
The final stanza's image, "mankind alone among the animals learns to cry," suggests the speaker also wants acknowledgement of the emotional cost. Humans carry a unique burden: the awareness that their situation is unjust, and the pain that follows.
The gap between aspiration and reality. She knows what she wants but cannot have it.
Circumstances beyond her control, especially those "viewed as unfair or unfortunate," constrain her options. The poem does not spell out whether these are racial, economic, or social barriers, but the implication is that they are systemic rather than personal failures.
The frustration is compounded by the need to stay positive. The speaker stresses dealing with difficult circumstances constructively, which takes effort on top of the original injustice.
When the preferred option is closed off, the speaker chooses an alternative rather than doing nothing.
This reframing is central to the poem: choosing the alternative is itself an exercise of agency, even if it is not the first choice.
The poem positions compromise as a form of resilience, a way to retain dignity when full freedom is not on offer.
Students often assume the speaker is content with her compromises. She is not. The poem presents alternatives as a coping strategy, not a source of satisfaction.
Some readers conflate the speaker with Nikki Giovanni herself. While Giovanni's biography informs the poem, the speaker is a constructed voice. Treat them as distinct unless your instructor says otherwise.
The line about mankind learning to cry is sometimes read as weakness. In context, it signals emotional depth and awareness, the opposite of weakness.
Students sometimes reduce the poem to a simple "be positive" message. The poem is more nuanced: it acknowledges pain and injustice while showing how the speaker navigates them.
Expect questions on the speaker's tone. The tone is restrained and reflective, not angry or defeated. Be ready to support that reading with specific lines.
The concept of agency within constraint is a high-value exam topic. You should be able to explain how choosing an alternative counts as an exercise of agency.
The final stanza image ("mankind alone among the animals learns to cry") is the most quotable line in the poem. Know what it means in context and be prepared to analyse it.
If your exam covers Giovanni's broader work, connect Choices to her themes of Black identity, self-determination, and quiet strength.
True or false: The speaker is fully satisfied with the alternatives she chooses.
False. She accepts them as a pragmatic response, not a happy outcome.
Fill in the blank: "Mankind alone among the animals learns to ____."
Cry.
True or false: The poem follows a strict rhyme scheme.
False. It is written in free verse.
The speaker's frustration stems primarily from _______ beyond her control.
Circumstances (social, economic, or systemic constraints).
True or false: Choosing an alternative is presented in the poem as a form of giving up.
False. It is presented as an act of agency and resilience.
Q: What does the speaker in Choices want, and what prevents her from getting it?
A: The speaker wants full freedom to make her own choices without limitation. She is prevented by external circumstances, likely systemic inequalities, that narrow her options and force her into alternatives.
Q: How does the speaker respond to her limited options?
A: She chooses an alternative course of action rather than surrendering or doing nothing. The poem frames this pragmatic compromise as a form of agency and quiet resilience.
Q: Analyse the significance of the line "mankind alone among the animals learns to cry."
A: The line highlights a uniquely human capacity: the ability to feel and express pain born from awareness of injustice. It suggests that the emotional burden of constrained choices is part of what defines the human experience.
Q: Is the speaker's tone in Choices angry, resigned, or something else? Support your answer.
A: The tone is best described as restrained and reflective. The speaker acknowledges frustration and pain but channels them into measured action rather than rage or surrender. This tonal control reinforces the poem's theme of dignified resilience.
Q: How does Choices relate to broader themes in Nikki Giovanni's body of work?
A: Giovanni frequently explores Black identity, self-determination, and the quiet strength required to navigate systemic barriers. Choices fits squarely within these concerns, presenting personal agency as a political act even when full freedom is denied.
This connects to the Harlem Renaissance and post-Renaissance African American literary traditions, where writers like Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks explored similar tensions between desire and constraint. If your course covers Hughes's "A Dream Deferred," compare how both poems handle the gap between aspiration and reality.
The theme of agency within limitation also appears in existentialist literature (Sartre, Camus), where characters must act meaningfully despite absurd or unjust conditions. If your course touches on existentialism, Choices offers a useful parallel.
Finally, the poem's emphasis on emotional expression (the act of crying as distinctly human) ties into Romantic-era ideas about the value of feeling, a thread that runs through English literature from Wordsworth onward.
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