Soto Small Town With One Road Analysis

Gary Soto brings the impoverished, crime filled streets of the Mexican-American communities where he grew up to life by “evoking the harsh forces that often shape the life for Chicanos” (“‘Gary Soto’: Poetry Foundation” p. 1). He combines an archetypal young love poem with the concept of poverty to create the powerful poem: “Oranges” (1985). Soto also works with the notion of old age and the importance of life in his somber poem: “The Seventieth Year” (1986). Finally, he portrays the result of a young death through the affected family’s mourning in the solemn poem: “Avocado Lake” (1975). Through the use of powerful imagery, precise descriptions, and free verse poetry, Gary Soto’s poems evoke a sense of sympathy for the underprivileged Mexican-American community where he grew up, while telling a beautiful story.

Age 7 in America is a film narrated by Meryl Steep about detailed lives of 7-year olds from diverse social classes and ethnic backgrounds in the United States. They are fifteen kids in total. Each place of stay for the kid is mentioned and other details to do with the family status, family structure, and their different thoughts on issues such as drugs and crime, education, the opposite gender, on the future, on the world, and so on. Integrated into the film explanation is Bronfenbrenner’s theory as regards child development. This theory will expound how each thing in child and his or her environment influences his or her growth and development. While discussing later on, four classifications of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem, is to be considered. This paper will discuss Luis and Julio in the aspect of three dimensions of change: physical, cognitive and socio-emotional with Bronfenbrenner’s theory in mind.

Through all the hardships of living in a poor country where just putting food on the table is a challenge. Seeing the media overinflate how great it is to live a country like the United States would feel like a pipe dream. Coming from a country full of corruption and powerful gangs governments that does not seem to care and payed off police to look the other way.

Poverty is not natural. It is something man made which means it can be overcome or wiped out by the actions that the human race does.Gordon Parks created a journal entry originally published, June 1961 in LIVE magazines named, “ Flavio’s Home”.Parks essay was widely considered one of the most photographic essay on the subject of poverty. Flavio’s home described Park's visit to el Rio De Janeiro and meeting a family who was living in a severe poverty stricken area. Parks wrote this essay mainly to get attention to people who are blessed to have a sustainable life and can lend a hand to others that are struggling to survive. This issue is very concerning and it is emphasized by the use of imagery to inform the audience of the infamous poverty in Brazil which is a growing concern or: “the most savage of all human affections.”(Parks 1)

Rodriguez starts by giving new names to California and Mexico. California is what he considers to be a comedy and Mexico, a tragedy. This instantly contrasts the two places by associating these words with them. When thinking about comedy, happiness and laughter come to mind- a happy feeling. Opposite of this is tragedy; the word tragedy is full of sorrow and heartache. The two could not be more different. But he doesn’t just leave the reader with only their thoughts about these words- he adds to their meanings. Rodriguez defines comedy not as laughter or happiness but as youth and the ability “to start anew”- as the ability to break tradition. In the same way

Throughout his writing career, Soto has written eleven poetry collections for adults and has been awarded both the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award. He is a recipient of the Tomas Rivera Prize and has earned awards from the PEN Center and National Education Association. His works have been critiqued and praised on numerous occasions, and he was named NBC’s Person-of-the-Week in 1997 for his advocacy for reading. However, as a young boy, Soto never expected any of this. It was in college when one book of poetry would change his life forever.

Situated near the U.S.-Mexico border during the early twentieth century is the fictional setting of Fort Jones, the outskirts of which is where Americo Paredes’ short story “Macaria’s Daughter” takes place. Emblematic of the disappropriation of Mexican land, as well as the increased marginalization of the Mexican people, the overbearing presence of Fort Jones reveals the struggle for preservation that characterizes the Mexican-American community of the story. “Macaria’s Daughter” is the tragic account of what happens in a small community when the upholding of Mexican values and institutions, and opposition to Anglo-American culture, become more important than a young woman’s life. In this essay, I will argue that “Macaria’s Daughter” is a text

Junot Diaz story “Fiesta 1980” is a story about an immigrant family that came to the US in the hunt for better opportunities. The story includes a myriad number of culturalisms to show that Yunior’s family is still new and that they still conserve their traditions. Nevertheless, Yunior’s family is not so different from many other Hispanic families in the US; a great amount of Hispanics families can be represented by “Fiesta 1980”. The story reveals a conflicted family with a son that is in need of affection and a dedicated wife, who is not blind and it’s able to see what the situation is. Diaz uses symbolism to represent the disapproval that Yunior feels for his father’s affair. Among the symbols Diaz uses are the van, the vomiting, the showers Papi takes, and papi starving Yunior.

In the essay "Children of Mexico," the author, Richard Rodriguez, achieves the effect of relaying his bittersweet feeling regarding how Mexicans stubbornly hold on to their past and heritage by not only relaying many personal experiences and images, but also by using an effective blend of formal and informal tone and a diction that provides a bittersweet tone.

There is only one person in our lives who loved and protected us from the moment that we born, our mothers. Thinking about that important person, Willie Perdomo wrote the poem “Unemployed Mami” in 2002 as part of the book Postcards of El Barrio (Poetry Foundation 2015). In “Unemployed Mami” and Postcard of El Barrio the author explores the culture, traditions and even the patriarchy that characterizes Puerto Ricans. Moreover, Perdomo shares the life of a son and the life of his beloved unemployed mother, in a time where women stayed at home without having a job, living from what their husbands earn. In order to enjoy and appreciate the content of this poems it is important to discuss what it means, where it takes place and what it tells about Perdomo’s life.

Julia Alvarez, in her poem “’Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”, writes that poems do play a role in people’s lives. She supports her idea by using relateable examples of how poems might change someone’s life. Her first example is simple, poetry can entertain someone on long drives. This does not only aply to long dirves however, Alvarez uses this to show that poetry does not have to have a big influence on someone’s life, instead it can affect a person in the smallest of ways, such as entertainment. The second example describes poetry comforting someone after the loss of a loved one. This is an important role of poetry because everyone loses something precious to them at some point in their life. Her next example talks of a person who can receive

The poem ‘Morning Praise of Nightmares One’ which is written by Lauire, Ann Guerrero depicts a strong notion about abuse and elements of despair when children at tender age are dealt with extreme abusive behavior. The overall theme of the poem is around the narration of a young girl who is living a life of pain in a house where she is inflicted with torture, pains and bruises. Despite of her miserable condition nobody is helping her. She is facing each morning with screams of nightmares which are never ending and no one is there to comfort her.

“Rosa Vargas’ kids are too many and too much. It’s not her fault, you know, except she is their mother and only one against so many” (Cisneros 29). In the novel The House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, touches on the many negative consequences of a single, impoverished mother raising an overwhelming amount of children. Poverty, discrimination, parental and neighborly responsibility, and respect are all issues and social forces that act upon the family; their presence or lack thereof cause several grisly occurrences to take place.

People of any and every background face difficulties. Many people do not even know how many people support and care for them. For example, when a family's house in a community burns down, it is reassuring to see their neighbors, friends, family, and even strangers, come together in order to protect and help the family in a time of need. In Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Shoulders,” she shows just how important protecting loved ones is. “Shoulders” is about a father who needs to protect his son from the rain in order to let him sleep. This poem sends the message of how important it is to protect loved ones by using figurative language, sound devices, and word choice.

In her poem “Borderlands,” Gloria Anzaldua strategically exposes readers to the true form of the Borderlands region as she conveys the internal incongruity that is rife with this state. As she characterizes the nature of the Borderlands, extending the idea of the Borderlands from a geographical region to an extensive social phenomenon, Anzaldua emulates an experience that is shared by many; conquered by fear.