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Something has changed in the world. The mood of the Postmodern Era leaks into our lives through the internet, and the colors of the last era are bleeding out. This mood is fiercely ready for change in all aspects of life—and it is succeeding. One such change is the manner in which we present ourselves to other people. Yasemin Balandi delves into the effects of the postmodern atmosphere on us as humans in her poem, “Street Party”. Using symbolism and organization, she conveys that the postmodern era has moved people to live their lives through fake personas.

Something has changed in the world. The mood of the Postmodern Era leaks into our lives through the internet, and the colors of the last era are bleeding out. This mood is fiercely ready for change in all aspects of life—and it is succeeding. One such change is the manner in which we present ourselves to other people. Yasemin Balandi delves into the effects of the postmodern atmosphere on us as humans in her poem, “Street Party”. Using symbolism and organization, she conveys that the postmodern era has moved people to live their lives through fake personas.

Firstly, the author uses the symbolism of the stripy dresses to help her communicate her theme to us. First, the main character feels a sense of confusion when she sees the other women: “All the females are in stripy gowns. The invitation said flowery gowns” (Balandi 4). This produced a sense of confusion for the main character, as she expected them to be wearing flowers, and lets the readers think of the stripes as an ingenuine factor. Next the author portrays a negative vibe from the striped dresses: “The stripes are still hurting her vision” (Balandi 5). From the fact that the stripes are hurting her vision, we can assume that the author wanted to portray the stripes as a negative factor in the poem. From this, we do not yet understand what the stripes symbolize, but we know that they symbolize something negative, and ingenuine.

Balandi also symbolizes the flowers that the main character is wearing. From the beginning, we can see from the invitation that the flowers are the opposite of the striped dresses that all the other women are wearing. Then, the man tells us “The flowers are hidden behind the stripes." (Balandi 9) From this, we can see that the dresses are something that cover up the flowers. Lastly, the author reveals to us the symbolism of humanness through the flowers. To our knowledge, the main character is the only one in a conversation with another character. This aspect shows us the humanness of it. Through these factors, we can assume that the flowers symbolize a genuine personality, and since the stripes are the opposite, they represent an ingenuine persona.

Yasemin Balandi uses organization as a big part of her poem to reveal her theme to her readers. She first reveals the negativity of the striped dresses, and then she reveals that the dresses and flowers are opposites. At first, we do not understand what the striped dresses represent, but later on, she carries on her plot to reveal what the flowers represent. Balandi shows us the humanness of the character wearing the flowers, and from this aspect, we can assume that the flowers symbolize a person’s genuine personality. And since the striped dresses are the opposite, we can see that they represent an ingenuine persona. Through this organization, the author creates a puzzle for her readers to piece together to communicate her theme.

In conclusion, Yasemin Balandi uses organization and symbolism to communicate her theme in her poem. She takes control of her unique style of organization to reveal the symbols throughout the poem. Her message is very important, especially in our society. Quite often, people display a fake persona, and Yasemin Balandi explains that this is in fact, unnatural. We shouldn’t have to have a fake personality for the world. In her poem, the author tells us to be yourself.

-B. Lit. Group 6

#Postmodern