Question

I Want to Be Me
K. Reiter






5





10






15





20






25

What do I do?
What college do I go to?

Do I want to be a teacher
and grade stacks of papers all night?
Do I want to be an attorney
and explain your legal right?

Do I want to write poetry
and be creative and free?
Do I want to be a star,
my name on the marque?

Do I want to help people
or work on big trucks?
Do I want to design buildings
and make big bucks?

What If I don’t know what I want to be?
What if I just want to be ME?

Because being me
has its many perks.
I’m fun, fair, and free
the whole works.

I can be my own boss.
I can make the decisions.
I can share my ideas
and all of my visions.

So, chef or doctor
or captain of the sea,
I know more than anything
I want to be me!
Read lines 27 and 28.

I know more than anything
I want to be me!

The poet’s lines influence the theme of the poem because they show that —
A choosing a career can cause one to lose who they really are
B being yourself is the most important thing you can do in life
C being your own boss can cause one to make a lot of money
D it’s important to be yourself in order to have a job

Answer 1

B

Lines 27–28 make clear the speaker’s priority is selfhood — above career choices, they value being themselves, which supports theme that being yourself is the most important thing.