1. Close Reading - Generating Material
On Claudia Rankine’s Citizen

2. Background (from Wikipedia, but sources check out): https://en
Background (from Wikipedia, but sources check out): a#Inaugural_events

3. P. 113 the oath of office Long Form Birth Certificate
The book is published in 2014, two years after Donald Trump’s appearance on television to say that he would donate $5 million to a charity of the President’s choice if Obama would publish his college and passport applications, and three years after Trump demanded that the president release his birth certificate.
Rankine turns the oath of office into free verse, where she highlights the difference in the lines by changing the enjambment of the lines.
The change from the correct, constitutionally mandated oath and the oath that Roberts gave Obama is highlighted by the enjambment.

4. And what had been ”I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully Execute the office of President of the United States…” becomes ”I do solemnely swear that I will execute the office of President to the United States faithfully…”

5. Emphasis on execute
By breaking the line of the oath after execute, Rankine forces the reader to think about the word “execute.”
Execute has two meanings:
1)To carry out or put into effect, to fulfill or perform (I executed the task quickly)
2) To kill, with the power of the state
To kill as a political act, or to kill to carry out a sentence of death
By breaking the line at this moment, Rankine draws attention to the word execute just before the word President.
In doing this, in the context of a book which explicitly raises America’s history of lynching, she raises the specter of violence that is implied in the racist attacks on a black President.

6. And what had been
”I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully
Execute the office of President of the United States…”
becomes
”I do solemnly swear that I will execute
the office of President to the United States faithfully…”

7. Tension between the oath of office and the demand for proof
Behind the words of the oath of office, Rankine includes a long, greyed-out image of the words “Long Form Birth Certificate.”
This refers to Donald Trump and other “birthers” refusals to believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that African American Barack Hussein Obama was a citizen of the United States.
The words “Long Form Birth Certificate” are in a font that makes me think of military cargo, for some reason.

8. Font research time
Stencil Cargo Army Font

9. Tension between the oath of office and the demand for proof
OK, the words “Long Form Birth Certificate” are in a font that makes me think of military cargo, for some reason... Now I know why.
The font that Rankine uses for the words “Long Form Birth Certificate” suggest the font use by the U.S. military.
It looks like a stencil.
It calls to mind: Military authority, TOP SECRET documents, military cargo, and the might and authority of the U.S. government.
In bringing this to mind, it gives the suspicion voiced by the words “Long Form Birth Certificate” a threatening quality.

10. What am I really thinking here?
It’s like the state might kill Barack Obama.
It’s like the state, the United States of America, can’t handle a black president taking the oath of office.
How do I say that in a way that sounds like an academic paper?

11. Tension between the oath of office and the demand for proof
The military font gives the suspicion voiced by the words “Long Form Birth Certificate” a threatening quality.
By contrasting this sense of threat with the emphasis, in the enjambed lines, on “execute”
Rankine is…
Suggesting that…

12. Tension between the oath of office and the demand for proof
Rankine is…
Suggesting that…
By giving the suspicions about Barack Obama’s birth certificate a militarized voice, Rankine is suggesting that those who are suspicious of him believe their words carry the threat of state violence.
The “birthers” believe American authority can not be black.
She implies, by aligning this threatening suspicion with the emphasis on “execute” in his oath of office, that violence against black people has, historically, been supported and authorized by the American state.
And it’s not clear that having a black president is going to stop that.

13. Now, I use all this to write a thesis
You can write a strong thesis about JUST THIS ONE PAGE in the book.

14. Observations: enjambment of the line, which refers to a thing that happened and then that font business
I think I have to re-write this observation. Probably shouldn’t say “thing that happened.”
By breaking the lines of the oath of office to emphasize the word “execute,” Rankine…
Rankine breaks the lines of the correct and the incorrect oath of office to emphasize the word “execute” in the incorrect version that Roberts induced Obama to repeat.
She uses a military font in the background for the words “Long Form Birth Certificate” in order to connect the politicized suspicion about Obama’s background to the American state’s history of authorizing violence against black people.

15. I would then start writing the paper:
The rest of this poem needs to be summarized. Probably goes into significance – or maybe also gets close reading of its own?
“the length of the silence becoming a living”
And the length, the exaggerated length, of the words “Long Form Birth Certificate”?
I write a paragraph summarizing what happened with Roberts, and citing sources. This gives context for my claim.
This is also evidence that I could use in a paragraph about audience. She assumes you either know this or are willing to look it up.
I write a paragraph about the enjambment. This is evidence for my claim that she’s emphasizing the word “execute.”
I write a paragraph summarizing the birth certificate demands, citing sources. This gives context / is evidence for my claim about what those words in the background mean.
I write a paragraph where I succinctly describe the font, and then give evidence that it’s a military font.
I write a paragraph explaining how the military font operates.
I write a paragraph tying the military font in with the idea of “executing.”
I cite evidence from the rest of the text about the history of lynching, and explain that lynching was not state-sponsored but was state-authorized and related to slavery, which was state-sponsored violence.
I write a conclusion, recapitulating my thesis and tying it all together; saying one more thing about why it matters.