Breaking Out - Critical Analysis Piercy's "Breaking Out" holds meaning in terms of its technique and thematic elements. Both aspects contribute to the poem's overall meaning of activism and the need to forge a statement of defiance in a world where conformity is expected and enforced. Piercy's poem is one of transformation, where individuals can envision what they can be as opposed to what is expected of them. From a structural point of view, there is no definite convention to which the poem must adhere. Stanzas of four lines and three lines alternate. There is no defined rhyme scheme. In its openness of form, Piercy seeks to give articulation to the condition of freedom that the subject of the poem, herself as a child, experiences at its end. Piercy delivers a poem from a narrative point of view, reflective of her own growth from a child to an adult. The experience of the ruler and the discipline she experienced at its hand becomes the critical aspe...
ISC Poems And Prose