Citizen: An American Lyric is a 2014 book-length poem[1] and a series of lyric essays by American poet Claudia Rankine. Citizen stretches the conventions of traditional lyric poetry by interweaving several forms of text and media into a collective portrait of racial relations in the United States.[2] The book ranked as a New York Times Bestseller in 2015 and won several awards, including the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry,[3] the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry,[4] and the 2015 Forward Prize for Poetry Best Collection.[5]

Use this worksheet to help guide you get a grip on the issues and stylistic and authorial choices. It will also help you hone your writing skills, and expose you to some secondary reading which should help illuminate your own reading.