Notes on Beyond Katrina by Natasha Trethewey
*Before you dive into this, I wanted to acknowledge the privilege I had of seeing Natasha Trethewey (Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate) recite some of her poetry live in April of 2024. As a part of National Poetry Month, Trethewey made the trek to the University of Rhode Island to share some of her incredible work to an audience filled with students, faculty, and of course myself. Her poetry reading was inspiring and pushed me to be a better student- so a huge thank you to Natasha Trethewey.*
Natasha Trethewey’s Beyond Katrina is a meditation that highlights the reflection of Trethewey’s personal life through the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She utilizes intimate aspects of her hometown, and how hurricane Katrina affected her and Mississippi. The meditation opens with a detailed description of her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi which initially lures the reader in. The next section of the book covers the post Katrina aspect and how the hurricane affected not only the land around her, but also the people closest to her. This section of the book also describes her brother who winds up in trouble with the law, and the death of her beloved grandmother. The meditation closes with handwritten letters written by Trethewey’s brother from jail, and how she believes his conviction wouldn’t have happened if not for Hurricane Katrina. Each section of the book tells a detailed story of a certain time in Trethewey’s life. However, what brings each section together is Trethewey’s choice to utilize numerous rhetorical devices. Some of these rhetorical strategies that were incorporated throughout the work were poems, images, letters, dialogue, and even italics. Trethewey’s inclusion of these tactics not only add a different perspective to the story, but also engage the reader. In a way, she utilizes these tools to elevate the audience’s experience through numerous perspectives that each assist in telling her remarkable story.
One of the first rhetorical strategies Trethewey utilizes in Beyond Katrina is the use of poetry. Throughout the meditation, Trethewey consciously chooses to scatter these poems that help portray her story to the reader through a different lens. The inclusion of her poems illustrates her life through a different perspective which gives the audience more insight and depth. The first poem the reader is introduced to is “Theories of Time and Space”. This 20-line poem written in free verse voices a detailed description of Mississippi. Trethewey describes moments throughout this poem that explore Mississippi’s sights and landmarks. Trethewey writes:
“Try this:
head south on Mississippi 49, one-
by-one mile markers ticking off
another minute of your life. Follow this
to its natural conclusion – dead end
at the coast, the pier at Gulfport where
riggings of shrimp boats are loose stitches
in a sky threatening rain” (lines 4-11).
This poem has an overarching theme of memory and loss. Whether it’s the detailed description of the highway or the pier, the audience can see the connection Trethewey has to this place she calls home. However, through her descriptions of these familiar places, Trethewey can convey a sense of longing and nostalgia. The subtle mentions of the reader’s life “ticking” away, and the “threatening rain” emphasize the poem’s overall themes of time and space. In this poem, time and space is observed negatively as Trethewey struggles to call this place home after the hurricane. Trethewey encourages the audience to feel deeply for the passing of time while she reflects on her hometown. She then goes on to place a question of can we truly return home after so much time has passed? This flips the audience’s attention from descriptions of Mississippi to Hurricane Katrina. The reader suddenly starts to ponder how Katrina may have affected Trethewey’s home and how it affected the people in surrounding areas. The poem engages the audience through these questions and thoughts. The audience starts to wonder if Trethewey was ever able to truly return to her home after Katrina. Gulfport was completely transformed because of the hurricane, which makes the reader wonder if Trethewey ever felt at home again since the land and people she knew were altered. The inclusion of this poem gave the reader the opportunity to perceive Trethewey’s hometown through her own eyes, which allows for a deeper understanding and engagement of her meditation. Because this poem was placed at the very beginning of the book, it sets up the overall tone for the rest of the meditation, as it highlights how Hurricane Katrina affected both Trethewey’s life and her hometown, Gulfport, MS.
The next piece of media Trethewey includes throughout her meditation, are images. Shortly after the reader is first introduced to Trethewey’s poem, the reader stumbles upon a picture of Trethewey and Gwendolyn Ann Trethewey née Turnbough (Natasha’s mother). As Gwendolyn cradles a young Natasha, the description below the photo tells the audience it was taken in the year 1966 in Gulfport. This intimate photo of a mother and her daughter helps give the audience an accurate visual. Unfortunately, Trethewey’s mother was murdered when Natasha was only 19, but the reader understands the choice to include her image in this meditation was purposeful. Later in the book there are mentions of her mother that make the reader flashback to this photo. The section of the book the photo falls under highlights the first few moments of Trethewey’s return to her hometown and reunion with her brother and grandmother. These intimate moments shared between family and her hometown make the placement for this photo almost necessary as it complements the text surrounding it. This also engages the reader as we now have a clear visual as to who Natasha and her mother are.
Although images are scattered throughout the meditation, one that stuck out to me most was the picture of one of Joe’s (Trethewey’s brother) letters from prison. This photo is found towards the end of the meditation (p. 110), and the audience can see Joe’s messy handwriting on a piece of lined paper. This photo comes after a page or two of one of Joe’s letters from prison. Although most of the letter is typed out and marked with quotations, the ending of the letter was left as its bare authentic self. The last couple of sentences highlight Joe’s view on his father and how he never noticed his violent behavior towards his mother. Trethewey’s choice to include a photo of Joe’s original letter not only gives the reader a closer look into his words, but also makes them feel as if they are holding the letter in their hand. This tactic makes the reader feel every emotion as we read through Joe’s difficult words.
Another rhetorical device Trethewey utilizes throughout her meditation, is the use of italics. Whether these italics are demonstrating internal thoughts or referencing lyrics from a song, the reader is bound to notice them. Trethewey’s choice to incorporate italics in her meditation makes the words affected stand out to the audience. Towards the very end of the meditation, soon after the reader learns about Joe’s sentence, there is a small excerpt in italics. Trethewey writes, “I wait until she is gone before I turn to Bret and ask- as I had when I first learned my brother was facing jail time- how am I going to live when my heart is in prison?” (p. 122). Not only do the use of italics here give the audience a glimpse into what Trethewey was thinking, they also ignite an emotional response from the reader as we have just learned devastating news. The rhetorical question in this excerpt also allows the audience to pause and think about the point she is trying to make. This gives the reader a peek into Trethewey’s thoughts which allows for a different perspective for the reader to explore and think through.
Similarly, Trethewey also includes many instances of dialogue. This dialogue is often found when she’s speaking to the members of her family. This allows for the reader to get a closer look into conversations Trethewey deemed important enough to include in her meditation. This encourages the audience to think deeper about the conversations highlighted and relate them to the overall themes of the meditation. Around the middle of the book, there is an interaction between Trethewey, her grandmother, and a friend that stuck out to me. Trethewey writes, “My grandmother, a proud woman- not to be outdone- replies, ‘Well, Tasha’s name is really Nostalgia,’ drawing the syllables out to make the name seem more exotic” (p. 62). The author’s utilization of dialogue here was to bring the reader closer into the story and the moment itself. The reader gets a sense as if they are there in this specific moment with Trethewey, as we are made to feel this wave of Trethewey’s embarrassment. The inclusion of the dialogue fills this scene with even more emotion which allows the reader a look into Trethewey’s perspective. In these sentences above, the word “Nostalgia” is also put in italics. The emphasis on Natasha’s “name” draws the reader’s attention back to her and her importance.
Natasha Trethewey’s different ways of storytelling bring all the different aspects of Beyond Katrina together. Throughout the meditation, the reader takes note of numerous rhetorical devices that engage the audience. These devices consist of poems, rhetorical questions, images, letters, italics, and dialogue. Trethewey’s inclusion of these draw the reader further into her personal story while also allowing for the reader to glance into different perspectives. The reader views the meditation through the eyes of Natasha, but we also get to explore a perspective through the eyes of her brother Joe. Trethewey’s choices regarding these devices tie the entirety of her meditation together while also drawing the reader further into her story.
Still from Trethewety’s Beyond Katrina
