Meet Josh Bell: Poem Analysis

To many people “I am Joaquin” is more than just an epic poem, it is the anthem of the Chicano movement which embodies our peoples struggles and culture. What made the work become the Chicano Movements anthem is the fact that it is a piece that seems to evaluate the Chicanos and their history from the good to the bad. It also seems to emphasize the Chicanos search and struggle for identity starting from the beginning of the Spanish conquest to our modern times. Basically this poem has become such an iconic work because it attempts and succeeds in encompassing as much Chicano history into it and makes no bias choice as it has both positive historical moments and negative, but they all tie back to Chicanos and their history.

The book, “SLAM!”, by Walter Dean Myers is based on a seventeen year old boy and his everyday life as well as narrating his basketball career. The book starts off with him explaining how good he is as basketball, to how he moved schools, from one where everybody knows him, also more povert than his current, magnet school, where the basketball team isn’t as good and where he has to make new friends. Everybody calls him Slam, a nickname because of his basketball dunking prowess but his real name is Greg Harris. He has trouble in his classes in the beginning of the year, as well as trouble with his new team, trouble making new friends, and trouble throughout. His mom is a caring, sweet mother like any other and his dad is having trouble finding

The death of Hunter Jordan, James’ stepfather, devastated James in his early teen years. This event started James on a path of drugs and terrible grades making him fail classes and eventually drop out of school. Hunter was referred to as “Daddy” by James because he was the closest dad James had ever had since his father died when he was very young. Also after Hunter died James was caught shoplifting and his mother, Ruth, finally found out that James was skipping school. After Hunter Jordan died James said “I wanted to tell him that I loved him, that I hoped with all my heart that he would get better, but I could not form the words in my mouth.”(Pg. 128). This led his mother to send James to Louisiana so that James

In the book Baseball Great, the author, Tim Green told the story from the main characters point of view. That helped build suspense because it showed what was going on inside his mind with all the adversity going on with his baseball team and with his dad losing his job and how he overcomes it. He also used used plot structure to engage the reader by having many unexpected events happen to make the ending very suspenseful and unpredictable. For example," 'I tried, Garry. ' Dallas Said. 'I 'm sorry, Its all over. ' (Green 17)" That was when Joshes dad got fired from his professional baseball team when he had been doing very good and expected to get moved up to the majors but he got cut and was left without a job and no one to make money to support the family. Another, " 'Josh doesn 't need to make your team, he not playing, '(Green 34) " In the book Josh moved to a school that was traditional very bad at baseball, and now that josh moved their they were getting excited and hoping for their first ever city championship. Then at the first tryout Joshes dad unexpectedly came and forced him to quit the team,

This story is about a young man named Billy Raynor who wanted to win the basketball championships for the season. Billy also had other problems at home with his parents and his younger brother so that made it harder for him to win the basketball champions. Billy thought that he would never make it to the championship with his father the coach. Billy was already the best player on his team and was the best shooter in the league since Billy was the best shooter he would always like to shoot rather than passing. The day that it was the championships his brother had piano so Billy and his father had to go with him. When they returned it was the fourth quarter and Billy made his two shoots but the other team scored another goal. When there was 1

Do you like to read sports book then this is your book to read, filled with action and tons of problems and sports events.

In John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player” the poet uses literary devices to depict the existing way of life of a once-famous sportsperson. Flick Webb was in before times a gifted athlete on his high school basketball team, and he was commendable of much awe. However, Flick never acquired any other skills to prepare him for a future. Accordingly, he now is locked into an unskilled job and his former glories have pale to all but Flick himself. Updike has created a character that is at this point in time going nowhere and spends most of his time thinking about his former days of glory. Flick dwells more restricted by the past than the present because the past was much brighter for him. Flick’s emotional retreat into his earlier period is exposed

In “Fastbreak” by Mike Lupica, Jayson faces many struggles in poverty. Jayson has no money

Edward Hirsch’s poem “Fast Break” has a lot of good use of sensory details, figurative language, and sound devices. This poem is about the fast break in basketball when players quickly bring the ball the other way at an unprepared defense. The subject of basketball is untraditional. “Fast Break” is the best poem ever.

The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm. This moment opened doors for African-American women that they thought would never have a chance. Nevertheless, the poem Ego Tripping written by Nikki Giovanni dated back to 1972 where she expresses her power throughout the poem with the support of feminist statements. Giovanni reminds the audience of historical moments that lead up to the current conditions of the United States. Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why) was published with a bundle of poetry which is entitled My House, the book of poems had a common underlying idea that Giovanni is free to do what she pleases and live by her own set of rules (Masterpieces of American Literature Ed. Steven G. Kellman.)

‘For What It’s Worth’ by Buffalo Springfield has a logical message because it is referring to the Sunset Strip Riots that took place in Hollywood during the 1960’s. People protested when they lost their civil rights due to a curfew law that was put into place. The song says, “Stop, children, what’s that sound. Everybody look- what’s going down?” Community members were angry at the young people going to clubs at night because they were “loud” and “disruptive”. The curfew law was put into place after the complaints and the youth became outraged. They believed their civil right were being taken away. There were riots along the sunset strip, where all these clubs were located, to protest the law. Police were at these riots and many people were handcuffed and hauled off to jail. They are referring to children because these protests were from the younger generation. Even though the overall message is logical, the support within this song is not as strong. ‘For What It’s Worth’ is often mistaken as an anti-war song since it was released during the Vietnam War era. When most people hear this song that is what they think of. The song can be heard in several war related movies. Some even believe it is about the Kent State Shootings although the song was released years before that event occurred. Even though there is not strong evidence to back up this song's true meaning, it

The movie Hoop Dreams centered on a pair of intercity youths, William Gates and Arthur Agee. Both of them lived in the projects surrounding Chicago. Their families were economically and educationally disadvantaged. William and Arthur had almost everything imaginable trying to prevent their success. However, they shared a dream of playing in NBA. With the support of their families, William’s and Arthur’s motivation to accomplish this goal led them to fantastic high school basketball careers.

I am not a father so I cannot express the love for a child. “My son the Man” is a short 16-line poem. In the poem, Sharon compares her son to Houdini and explains how he has grown up. Sharon expresses deeply about her son growing up and leaving her and it is hard for her to watch her little boy become a man. I can kind of relate to this because my mom still looks at me as if I am a little boy. “Sharon shows strong emotional feelings about how she struggles to accept her child is all grown up”. Olds memories of her son as a child, her feelings of seeing him as an adult, and her description of his realizations that he is becoming a man all convey this. She is also having a hard time realizing that her “son” is now a man and there is nothing she

In the poem “Ego-Tripping” by Nikki Giovanni, she normalizes her worth by continuing to royalist herself as a black woman who is essential to mankind. Giovanni creates a vision throughout the poem, which leaves a thought in mind of how woman should look at themselves with much confidence as Giovanni does. “Ego Tripping” was written by Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, Jr. who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943. G9iovanni is a writer, poet, activist, and educator whose work was influenced during the Black Power Movements and the Civil Rights Movement. The poem was released in 2002. Her work provided a strong, militant yet African-American feel that was manifested through her writing. Giovanni work includes variety of topics ranging from race and social issues to children literature. She is considered one of the world well-known poets, within the African-American community.

How would you like it if you had to fit in? The poet Erin Hanson, who goes by E.H., wrote the poem “Welcome to Society”. The poem is summarized by the third and fourth lines, which state, “And please feel free to be yourself/ As long as it’s in the right way.” Hanson expresses the theme of social acceptance through his/her use of conflict, word choice, and idioms throughout the poem.