McNair Scholars Journal

Volume 18 | Issue 1 Article 4

2014 Portrayals of Assimilation in Chicano Poetry Crisol Beliz Grand Valley State University

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Recommended Citation Beliz, Crisol (2014) "Portrayals of Assimilation in Chicano Poetry," McNair Scholars Journal: Vol. 18 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mcnair/vol18/iss1/4

Copyright © 2014 by the authors. McNair Scholars Journal is reproduced electronically by ScholarWorks@GVSU. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ mcnair?utm_source=scholarworks.gvsu.edu%2Fmcnair%2Fvol18%2Fiss1%2F4&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages Portrayals of Assimilation in Chicano Poetry

Introduction Chicano History I became interested in this topic through The origin of the Chicano is rooted in experiences that involved my identity. the connection to the Mexica, otherwise My introduction to the idea of identity known as the Aztecs. The Aztecs were a happened on my second trip to Mexico; I militant people who migrated to the Valley was about 12 years old. One night while in of Mexico, located in central Mexico, the plaza I heard English being spoken and from Aztlan under the command of their naturally I looked around to see who was foremost god Huitzilopochtli (Buchenau, speaking English. My parents and I saw a 12) Aztlan is the legendary homeland of middle-aged couple speaking English, and the Aztecs, and it has been hypothesized they dared me to go speak to the couple. that Aztlan would be modern day Texas or I walked up, introduced myself to them Oklahoma. During the Chicano movement and asked where they were from; they were Chicano’s embraced Aztlan as a spiritual from Missouri. The next thing they said homeland that represented their feelings of struck me. They asked me how long I had displacement. been practicing my English. I remember The indigenous part of the Chicano’s Crisol Beliz telling them I was from Michigan, but after culture is derived from the Native McNair Scholar that I only remember feeling conflicted. I was a fourth generation Mexican-American American roots of the Aztec. Centuries from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Of course it later large portions of Mexico became was only natural for them to assume I was part of the United States after Euro- Mexican; we were in Mexico and I blended American encroachment upon Mexican in with my brown skin and long black land. The states of New Mexico, Texas, hair. At this time I realized that although Nevada, Arizona, California, and Utah I felt American being fourth generation all became a part of the United States and seemingly fully assimilated—I wasn’t (Buchenau, 52). Mexicans living in these perceived that way. I had two identities at states were given two choices. One choice play being Mexican- American. I couldn’t was to leave their ancestral homelands and avoid my hyphenated identity; I could not relocate to a shrunken Mexico. The second be one without the other. choice was to attempt to assimilate into Anglo-American society. Those choosing Defining Chicano to stay were subject to an unjust and discriminatory United States justice system Before discussing the history of the Chicano that was unsympathetic of their language heritage it is important to define the term barrier and ignorant of their connection to Chicano for the purpose of this study. their homeland. Being born in the United Chicano is a term that is highly debated in Jim Persoon States, but being of Mexican ancestry made the scholarly community. For instance many Chicanos neither Mexican nor American. Faculty Mentor scholars define Chicano as any American These early frustrations led up to the of Mexican descent and often the terms Chicano movement that took place amidst Mexican-American and Chicano are used the chaos of the turbulent 1960’s. interchangeably (Shirley and Shirley, 4). Other scholars deny the interchangeability During the radical protests of the 1960’s of these two terms. The term was originally the Chicano movement began urging used as a derogatory term to shame for a country that was sympathetic and immigrants from low socio-economic accommodating to Chicano concerns. backgrounds from smaller towns (Tatum). Chicanos began establishing associations Chico means little in Spanish, and -ano to support their people’s educational, means man so when translated Chicano economic, and political rights to combat means the little people. The term was very the alienation and discrimination. Cesar popular during the Chicano movement Chavez became the face of the movement as Mexican-Americans embraced it as an after leading the Delano grape strike and identity to take pride in. Since the 1970’s it helped found the National Farmworkers has lost popularity because it typically refers Association. Chavez fought on behalf of to politicized Mexican-Americans. Today migrant workers like himself and in the many Mexican-Americans take pride in the process became an inspirational figure for Chicano identity. many Chicanos.

6 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal Chicano Poetry The four Chicano poets analyzed are from gods as a source of strength to combat the this time period and their poetry centers dehumanization of society. In his second Poetry has both an oral and written history. on the frustrations of Chicanos. They all book of poetry titled Nationchild Plumaroja With the arrival of the Spaniards, Spanish argue on behalf of Chicanos in their poetry. calls for a group effort that resists Anglo traditions had a heavy influence on poetry These poets include Gloria Anzaldua, Gary exploitation. wherever these settlers chose to inhabit. Soto, Lorna Dee Cervantes, and Alberto The most common forms of poetry found Rios. These poets are all from the same Ricardo Sanchez urged Chicanos toward in areas heavily impacted by Spaniards are geographical region in the southwest at the a carnalismo or brotherhood. His poetry the romance, the corrido, the decima, and heart of the Chicano movement. tended to be much louder in relation to the cancion. other Chicano poets. There was no tone The Chicano poets of the 60’s had a and his views were often extreme. His Thecorrido is most relevant to a discussion militant tone to their poetry, but in the 70’s poetry dealt with the social realities of of Chicano poetry as corridos are often the poets began to shift their focus (Tatum, the Chicano. Sanchez’s poetry can seem referenced and written by Chicano 153). The major social poets of this undisciplined in form according Charles poets during any discussion of Chicano period were Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, Tatum. Sanchez spent time in prison poetry. This is due to its popularity in the Alberto Delgado, Alurista, Ricardo and so much of his poetry deals with his southwest as well as Mexico. It tends to Sanchez, and Sergio Elizondo. “Corky” personal struggle. It also deals with the be a faster narrative ballad. These ballads Gonzales was a significant figure in the denigration of inmates. He encourages typically focus on themes of struggle or Chicano movement. Gonzales was very finding peace in love, your family and the adventure. Oftentimes corridos will address politically active and he even was in the barrio. Sanchez also tends to be very anti- the tensions between Anglos and Mexicans. process of arranging a march on poverty establishment since he is an extremist. He They are usually written immediately after in collaboration with Martin Luther King argues against the Chicano drug culture an important social event happens, which shortly before King was assassinated. In and the superiority of males. made the corrido particularly popular Gonzales’ “I am Joaquin” he addresses during the Chicano movement. the search for identity and cultural Sergio Elizando’s work was used primarily roots. Joaquin is a character who resists in regard to education. His work was meant Most Chicano poetry originates from the to be the voice of the various injustices 1960’s. This was a time of great tension for assimilation into Anglo-society. He resists the subjugation to oppressive forces and Chicanos have faced such as the Alamo, the United States because of the Vietnam the Great War and returning to racism, and War, the black power movement, a strong instead searches for strength and endurance within his own heritage. In “Villains and a cycle of work as migrants in the fields. left wing, and the Chicano movement. Elizondo also argued for carnalismo and Naturally, Chicano poetry from this period Heroes” Gonzales focuses on dual ancestry. He discusses being both the colonizer and hope. Unlike Sanchez he has a different tends to deal with the socio-historical view of women. In his Libro para vatos y circumstances that affected Chicanos. the colonized due to his indigenous and Spanish roots. chavalas chicanas he focuses on love, but During this period their poetry tended then he shifts to characterizing the woman to focus on the indigenous roots of the Alberto Delgado was very influential as the earth mother and discusses her role Chicano and the traits of the Chicano among Chicano poetry. Delgado was in providing care to the male. He then heritage. Joel Hancock describes poetry essentially a historiographer of Chicano characterizes the male as the warrior who of the 1960’s as a period of defining and history. He did so by reporting on events must deal with the injustices of society. providing a description of the Chicano that were not recorded in the newspapers. people (Tatum, 139). Many of the poets The newspapers were a prominent source of There was a transition from the 1960’s to were also militant activists. news for the Chicano movement. Delgado the 1970’s when the poets took decisively different tones in their poetry. The poets Common themes throughout the writing tried to create harmony between the alienated Chicanos and Anglos. had switched from the militant poetry of of Chicanos during this time were the the 1960’s to the more self-reflective and Aztec or Mayan indigenous roots of Alurista is another very prominent Chicano stylistically concerned poetry. Chicanos, the contemporary struggle of poet (Chicano! History of the Mexican- the Chicano, the family as a source of American Civil Rights Movement). His Thesis strength and cultural continuity, carnalismo poetry stands out due to the creativity of In Chicano poetry there are realms of (brotherhood), and political action through his experimentation with bilingualism. solidarity (Shirley and Shirley, 21). possibilities for Chicanos to follow in their Alurista tended to use bilingualism to approaches to assimilation. These four Language was and still is so significant to discuss indigenous themes in his poetry. thematic approaches include: struggling to Chicano poets they use it to both reclaim According to Charles Tatum he was assimilate, culture blending, resistance to their heritages and define themselves as the most successful Chicano poet to assimilating, and attempted recovery of an Chicanos and Chicanas. Poets began using incorporate Spanish, English, and barrio identity lost after assimilation. syntactic blends of English and Spanish in slang. Through bilingualism he creates their poetry to express themselves. This is bicultural experiences that often compares Methodology often referred to as code-switching or inter- and contrasts two worlds. In Floricanto he compares the two worlds of the Chicano; For my research I did analytical readings lingualism (Shirley and Shirley, 31). They of poetry. I read some literary criticism used it to authenticate their experiences the indigenous mestizo world of the Chicano and the materialist world of the on Chicano poetry in order to develop a and as a way to validate their heritages. We better understanding of Chicano poetry. see this especially in the poetry of Gloria Anglo. His poetry has much to do with spirituality by referencing various Aztec By reading a series of nine anthologies Anzaldua and Lorna Dee Cervantes. of American poetry I chose the poets

7 Volume 20, 2016 according to which ones have been most it can discuss the experiences of African them. At the same time it leads her to feel heavily anthologized. The four authors I Americans, or it can deal with the Native connected to her Mexican heritage, but she decided to focus on in particular are Gloria American experiences. In this study we cannot even speak their language. She may Anzaldua, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Gary use it to discuss how Chicanos have been fear that Mexican culture will reject her for Soto, and Alberto Rios. After choosing affected by the neo-colonialism of the being so anglicized that she cannot even the four Chicano authors to focus on I United States. speak the same tongue. read collections of their poetry. I then chose which poems we would discuss in Four our research we read a variety of In the next line she discusses speaking depth. I read and discussed these poems poetry from our four chosen authors. We Spanish “The words are foreign, stumbling with several literary frameworks in mind. then wrote our analyses of the poetry with on my tongue”. She is not comfortable These frameworks included Formalism, the four lenses in mind. We responded to in the language she feels tied to by her Feminism, Marxism, and Post-colonialism. at least two poems by each poet. name. She trips over these words that she was raised without. She has an accent Formalism was the lens most heavily Discussion that reveals to others that she is not one utilized. Formalism relies primarily on The various authors considered in this of them. This accent and her name are textual evidence by providing support analysis all illustrate a relationship with both stigmas because it reveals to Anglo- directly from the texts. It also places heavy assimilation coming from Mexican- Americans she is too Mexican, and to significance on close readings (Parker, 11) American backgrounds. Each author Mexicans she is too Anglo-American; this Formalism relies on the text itself, so the fluctuates between these four approaches. prevents her from feeling like a member of reader must refrain from seeking authorial Oftentimes the boundaries between these either community. intent or their own personal response to the categories hover throughout the poetry In line eight the narrator expresses that text. This contributed to our analysis of the because none of the authors are ingrained texts because it allowed us to focus on the she sees herself as a Mexican although in their approach. For example, an author no one else does. Not only does the structures, forms, and poetic devices each may resist assimilation in one poem but author puts to use. narrator see herself this way, but others may reveal a struggle to assimilate in do as well. When she looks in the mirror Feminism was the second lens used another poem which indicates that there is she sees “bronzed skin, black hair,” these to interpret the literature. Feminist a complexity to these four approaches. two features. These are the features she criticism pays attention to how literature Lorna Dee Cervantes sees as the primary forces preventing her reinforces the political, economic, and from assimilating into Anglo-American social oppression of women (Tyson, 92). Cervantes is the first author I would like to society. They give her a sense of identity Feminist criticism deals with how the discuss. Cervantes is from San Francisco, conflict that makes her feel unwanted by texts are “gendered” and how women are California which is in located in the two cultures. This conflict of identity is portrayed. We read texts through a feminist Southwest region of the United States. then a product of being separated from lens partly because a couple of our authors Much of her poetry deals with the struggle her family’s native tongue; therefore, she is identify as feminists. Feminism provided a of poverty, racism, and sexism. Her poetry unable to blend in with the culture that she fresh perspective of the texts because each takes a very militant approach and she physically and maybe culturally identifies lens highlights a different aspect. Some strongly expresses her frustrations with with. She geographically identifies with texts seem to be more heavily influenced social injustice in her poetry. Anglo-American culture and possibly by feminism such as the poetry of our two culturally identifies with Anglo-American female poets. Other poetry may seem more “Barco de Refugiados” society to a degree. heavily influenced by post-colonialism. In the poem “Barco de Refugiados” the The last stanza is so powerful because Marxism sees texts as products of history narrator explains the disconnect she she clearly identifies how she feels being through the social and material conditions feels from her culture. This poem is a Mexican-American. She feels like she in which they were created. Marxism relatively short and was originally printed is “... a captive aboard the refugee ship,” argues that the reality behind the human in English and subsequently printed in meaning that she feels forced to leave her experience are the economic systems that Spanish years later. homeland. She could be expressing that she structure society (Tyson, 54). It deals When the narrator says “Mama raised me feels forced to abandon her native culture often with the base and the superstructure, without language/ I’m orphaned from in order to get off the refugee ship. She says of which the base is economics and the my Spanish name” she illustrates the “The ship that will never dock” to illustrate superstructures are the realities created disconnect she feels. She feels connected to that she has been rendered immobile by from there (Parker, 212). I used Marxism Spanish because of her name. Her name is having to balance two different cultures because nearly all of our poets discuss the not an Anglo-American name which makes each with their own languages, names, and struggle with poverty in their poetry. her feel ostracized from Anglo-American even physical characteristics. The last lens is post-colonialism. Post- culture. This in turn leads her to want to be The last two lines stand out because colonialism is highly relevant to this study accepted by her Mexican culture, but being she uses code-switching which is a very because it deals with the relationship raised without the language makes her common poetic device in Chicano poetry. between the colonized and their colonizers. excluded from that culture as well. She can’t She repeats the line “the ship that will It seeks to understand how colonialist blend in with either culture; it seems there never dock,” in Spanish after she says it and anti-colonialist ideologies function is no room for her. One reason is that her in English. Here it illustrates her duality (Tyson, 418). Post-colonial theory can deal name separates her from the Anglos; it is so because she speaks both English and with all human experiences. For example, foreign to them revealing she is not one of Spanish. Spanish is the language she feels 8 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal culturally inclined to, yet she was raised prison because of the barbed wire. Barbed The third stanza consists of one sentence in without it so she uses English. The Spanish wire is used to keep something out, and two lines. The author meant to emphasize at the end could infer many things. For in this case it would be harmony between this line for a reason. She says “There is example it could illustrate an attempt to races. According to lines 3-5 there is still no hunger, no/ complicated famine or rediscover her heritage through language. evidence of those fences in her world greed./”. She is once again expressing this She has chosen to speak Spanish even when she says “The only reminder/ of past idea of naivety or innocence. People in this though the words stumble across her battles, lost or won, is a slight/ rutting in land know nothing of sadness because this tongue. She is making an attempt to the fertile fields./” There are ruts in the is a land of peace. In her land people have reconnect to her heritage even though dirt where the fences once stood leaving food, and greed and famine are no longer this tongue is foreign to her. It could also a reminder for her and those who live in ubiquitous. illustrate that she is making a decision. this world. She leaves the reminder—the A decision that she will no longer be on fence—in her world because to forget “I am not a revolutionary. a ship that never docks; she is going to would make the battles likely to recur. I don’t even like political poems. choose a side. Maybe that side is Mexico. Do you think I can believe in a war She could possibly be saying she has made “In my land between races? the decision to identify as a Mexican in people write poems about love, I can deny it. I can forget about it an attempt to recover a lost heritage she full of nothing but contented childlike when I’m safe, has been orphaned from. This seems syllables. living on my own continent of harmony feasible enough considering this poem was Everyone reads Russian short stories and and home, but I am not reprinted in Spanish years later. weeps. there.” (Cervantes 13-19) There are no boundaries.” (Cervantes 6-10) This poem reveals a great deal about the In the fourth stanza the author continues Chicano experience. It is a common In the second stanza our narrator begins describing herself in this world and the experience for Chicanos to feel ostracized by saying “In my land/” once again stanza culminates with a shift in tone. She by both cultures. Many Chicanos struggle emphasizing the fact that this is only her begins talking about herself for the first with speaking Spanish, yet they struggle imagined world, as it is not the world we time in the poem saying that she is not to assimilate being marked by their skin as live in. Perhaps the reason she emphasizes a revolutionary. The next lines are ironic Cervantes would say. “my” is because to people like the young because the title and the text give the white man the world she is describing audience some insight into what this poem “Poem For The Young White Man Who Asked already exists due to ignorance. In the is about. In the 14th line she says she does How I, An Intelligent, Well-Read Person, next line she says “people write poems not even like political poems, yet this poem Could Believe In A War Between The Races” about love,/ full of nothing but contented is undoubtedly political given the title and childlike syllables./”; she begins creating an subject matter. She asks how she could In Lorna Dee Cervantes’ “Poem For the image of peace. She does this by discussing believe in the war between races, and the Young White Man Who Asked Me How the idea of love and the people in this land answer is she can’t; she can forget about it, I, An Intelligent Well-Read Person, Could being in touch with their artistic selves. but only because she is in her imaginary Believe In A War Between The Races” This communicates the idea that people in world. She is saying that if the world didn’t the narrator is discussing two worlds that her land are innocent; they don’t remember need people to be revolutionaries she juxtapose one another. One world lives things like hate and sadness. When she wouldn’t be one. In her world they do not only in her imagination while the other is says the poems are full of childlike syllables need revolutionaries, therefore she isn’t one. her reality. She addresses the fact that in she once again communicates this idea of She says she is “living in my own continent her imaginary world there is peace, but in happiness and innocence. In the last line of harmony/”; this place doesn’t have a race reality there is war. she is once again expressing the idea of no war and she is safe here from the dangers of “In my land there are no distinctions. distinctions that she brought up in the first a race war and revolutionaries. The poems The barbed wire politics of oppression stanza. She says in lines 9-10 “Everyone shifts in tone when she says “but I am not have been torn down long ago. The only reads Russian short stories and weeps./ there/” because our narrator is about to reminder There are no boundaries./” . This line describe her reality. illustrates that there is a genuine acceptance of past battles, lost or won, is a slight “I believe in revolution rutting in the fertile fields.” (Cervantes 1-4) of all ethnicities in this world. It seems that there is true amity between races because because everywhere the crosses are burning, In the first stanza of this poem she begins she is Chicana living in America, yet in her sharp-shooting goose-steppers round every contrasting these two worlds by saying world Americans are reading Russian short corner, “In my land there are no distinctions./”; stories. This line illustrates the honesty there are snipers in the schools... she is claiming a space of her own by behind the last statement “there are no (I know you don’t believe this. saying in “my” land. In the second line boundaries” because she is providing an You think this is nothing our narrator discusses “The barbed wire example by saying in her country people but faddish exaggeration. But they politics of oppression/ have been torn appreciate each other’s creativity regardless are not shooting at you.)” (Cervantes 21-28) down long ago./”; she is discussing racism of nationality or race. In the first line of the fifth stanza there here. Racism is often defined as a system “There is no hunger, no is already a stark contrast from the first of oppression and here she describes it as four stanzas. She begins by saying “I barbed wire politics, which no longer exist complicated famine or greed.” (Cervantes 11-12) believe in revolution/” directly contrasting in her world. She is creating an image of line 13 when she said “I do not believe racism as a fence that separates as if in a in revolution” because she has returned 9 Volume 20, 2016 to reality. The next line is very political children. These are things that add to an for many reasons. For example, the fact because it is illustrating the reason she is individual’s quality of life; their identities, that she is a revolutionary. They hate her a revolutionary and the violence that has pride, and self-confidence suffer as a result. because of racism, and they judge her based driven her there. The narrator explains This is illustrated when she says “Let me on the color of her skin as she said earlier “because everywhere the crosses are show you my wounds: My stumbling when she explained being marked by skin burning,/ sharp-shooting goose-steppers mind, my/ ‘excuse me’ tongue.” Here it color. round every corner,/.” These lines are is illustrated that racism has unnoticed dealing with politics in the United States. effects such as a stumbling mind. She “I am a poet Line 22 discusses crosses burning which could possibly be suggesting a struggle who yearns to dance on rooftops, was a scare tactic used by the Ku Klux with identity or worrying about saying to whisper delicate lines about joy Klan and is often associated with racism. the right thing. Her excuse me tongue is and the blessings of human understanding. The next line discussing sharp shooting how she feels she must speak white people. I try. I go to my land, my tower of words goose-steppers is a reference to the military. Racism tends to make the subordinate and Soldiers often do something called goose groups wish they could disassociate from bolt the door, but the typewriter doesn’t stepping during military parades in which their subordinated groups. For example, fade out they march by swinging their legs and many Hispanics do not teach their children the sounds of blasting and muffled outrage. extending them fully and unbent high Spanish in an attempt to prevent prejudice My own days bring me slaps on the face. above the ground. By describing them as against them. Oftentimes they do this Every day I am deluged with reminders sharp shooting she is implying they know fearing that speaking another language that this is not who their targets are—minorities-- and would keep them from being successful. my land they have skillful aim. It seems as if she is This relates to the excuse me tongue. She suggesting that the targets of the goose- is describing code switching because she and this is my land.” (Cervantes 43-54) steppers are the oppressed. Then in lines is implying that they have to be polite to In the third to last stanza she begins 25-28 she puts in parentheses what seems those that are dominant in society. They discussing an imaginary world once like justification for her statements. She use their excuse me tongue to help the again. She says “I am a poet/ who yearns begins by saying “I know you don’t believe dominant feel more comfortable around to dance on rooftops,”. She just wants to this. /”. She is illustrating how exasperating them. The last line states “... and this/ be blissful which she cannot do if there it is to explain this to those who do not nagging preoccupation/ with the feeling is a race war. She is a poet who wants to experience this type of oppression like the of not being good enough./.” Here she is focus on the beauty of life, but instead young white man. When she continues explaining another effect of racism. It leads she writes about this and the sadness of it. with “But they are not shooting at you. groups to feel like they aren’t good enough She desires compassion from other human /”; she is explaining that he does not because the dominant sets up the standards beings when she says she wants to write understand this because he does not for what is good enough. She is suggesting “about joy and the blessings of human experience it. that it leads to sentiments of inferiority for understanding.” She tries to write poems those subjected to racism in society. “I’m marked by the color of my skin. about happiness, but she can’t when she is The bullets are discrete and designed to kill “These bullets bury deeper than logic. confronted with the harsh reality every day. slowly. Racism is not intellectual. She hears these bullets outside and what They are aiming at my children. I can not reason these scars away.” she is expressing is that for her there is no These are facts. (Cervantes 37-39) escaping this reality for more than a few Let me show you my wounds: my seconds to envision this imaginary world. stumbling mind, my When she says “these bullets bury deeper Even when she does imagine this world “excuse me” tongue, and this than logic./,” she is explaining that racism she is inevitably jerked back into reality as nagging preoccupation is so hurtful that even though it does not she has illustrated throughout the poem by with the feeling of not being good enough.” make logical sense it has a deep and painful transitioning from describing her imaginary (Cervantes 29-36) impact. Even though it makes no sense to world to explaining the real world. The mean less than someone because of our last few lines of this stanza she says she is In this stanza she explains how racism skin color it still hurts. She says “Racism constantly reminded that this is not her affects her. She is also explaining how is not intellectual./ I can not reason these land. What she means is that it is not her racism is a clandestine process. She explains scars away./”; she is explaining once again land because the soil is owned by those in this when she says “The bullets are discrete that racism is not an intelligent concept, power, and she is powerless. When she says and designed to kill slowly.” When she says but it is a product of human prejudice. “and this is my land.” she is continuing these bullets kill slowly what she means Therefore she cannot use logic to reason from the sentence where she said it is not is that racism does not cause immediate these scars away because it is a product her land. So there are two meanings here. death which may be a reason it is so easy of emotion and it produces an emotional The land is not hers because she is the to deny when you do not experience it. response. oppressed, yet this is her land because it is Since it does not cause death how can it be the land her ancestors lived on. The Aztecs harmful? The reality she is trying to express “Outside my door owned this land. They were connected is that it does cause intellectual harm; it has there is a real enemy spiritually and slowly their land was taken created a system of oppression according who hates me.” (Cervantes 40-42) from them. She is Chicana meaning that to Cervantes. It has affected her children. When she says “Outside my door/ there is she lives in this country so it is her land Things such as education, crime, and a real enemy/ who hates me./,” she is again and it is the place she was raised. This is her employment are biased toward her and her talking about racism. They could hate her home yet she cannot claim it as her own. 10 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal “I do not believe in the war between races When she continues in the next line she and the tourists are the buying class. The but in this country says “We who have learned the language/” poem seems to address Marxist ideals here there is war.” (Cervantes 55-57) there is a change in tone. The narrator because Cervantes is a Marxist. By the end seems to take on a more aggressive tone the poem begins to take on a Marxist tone. She continues by repeating she does not especially with the use of we. The narrator believe in the war between races. She could is purposefully isolating herself from the In the final line the narrator says “As they be suggesting that she does not support it; tourists and identifying herself as a native. lower and bite. /.” Here we see the anger she is not a separatist. She wished all races When she says we she also seems to be expressed vividly. We see a harshness to could live in peace.In the last lines she says communicating a sense of community. This the word choice of this sentence. The word “but in this country / there is war”; she is must be purposeful because she does this bite has a very aggressive connotation. Bite explaining that although she doesn’t believe twice in the first three lines of the poem. indicates a sharpness or haste, which would in a war between races it does not eliminate When she discusses the language they speak be reasonable as they are beggars. They fear the fact that there is war in this country. To it leads us to wonder what this language is they have to grab what is offered quickly her it is an indisputable fact. She says this that she knows. She answers this question before it is taken away. It also seems to with such confidence by isolating the last in the next line. look like bowing. She could be suggesting two lines. It is dependent on the preceding that her people must bow down to those line, yet she sets it apart to illustrate its She continues in the fourth line by saying in power; those with capital. In this case significance. She wants these lines not only “They speak as they beg/,” and this line the seabirds are bowing down to those with to be read but to be seen. They stand out takes on a more negative tone than the last nourishment and they are taking their food as the last two lines of the poem. They are three. She has revealed to the audience the with haste and irritation. Haste because expressing a truth that Cervantes knows language of the birds that she understands. those in power could take away the scraps and that is that she doesn’t support racism, The language she is discussing here is the at any moment as they wish. They express but she is certain that it exists. language of begging. It is now becoming irritation at the fact that they must beg for clear why our narrator seems to take food instead of having access to their own. “From Where We Sit: Corpus Christi” on a tone of vexation; she is vexed. It is This poem expresses Cervantes’ In her poem “From Where We Sit: Corpus becoming more evident that this poem is about more than birds because she seems discontentedness with the fact that her Christi”, author Lorna Dee Cervantes people must beg for a happy living. She compares seabirds to Chicanos. This poem to be comparing herself to the birds. She has something in common with the birds, communicates this idea by expressing makes another political statement although sympathy for the seabirds who beg. Her it is slightly less aggressive than “Poem For which she revealed in the third line. She understands their language: the beggar’s poem seems to take on a Marxist tone near The Young White Man Who Asked Me the end. This is because of the fact that How I An Intelligent, Well-Read Person, language. She also seems to be expressing some anger. The anger is at the fact that the tourists have the food and the seabirds Could Believe In The War Between The must beg for it. She illustrates that this Races”. She takes on a tone of vexation the seabirds have to beg the tourists for scraps. Figuratively this seems to be aimed is dedicated to her people by saying we throughout the poem by describing the multiple times. Overall this poem seems to actions of the seagulls. at Chicanos and Mexicans who struggle to make decent livings in the U.S. argue for the justification of the anger of “We watch seabirds flock the tour boat. her people at being treated unfairly. The last lines do the most to express her They feed from the tourist hand. Gary Soto We who have learned the language anger. The poem has gone from a vexed They speak as they beg tone to an angered tone by the penultimate “Black Hair” Understand what they really mean and final lines when she says “Understand As they lower and bite” (Cervantes 1-6) what they really mean/ As they lower and In his poem “Black Hair” Gary Soto bite. /.” She is expressing the fact that discusses baseball and emphasizes the fact The poem begins with our first person the seabirds are not proud of begging. that he is Hispanic. This poem consists of narrator saying “We watch the seabirds The tourists believe that the seabirds three larger stanzas of ten lines each. flock the tourboat./.” At this point it seems feel grateful for their scraps, but she that the narrator is literally discussing understands what they are really feeling. “At eight I was brilliant with my body. seabirds. It also reveals that our narrator is They are discontented over the fact that In July, that ring of heat not alone in watching these seabirds crowd they have to beg to have a decent living. We all jumped through, I sat in the around this tourboat. When she continues They must work and beg for nourishment, bleachers with “They feed from the tourist hand. /,” and in the end all they receive are leftover Of Romain Playground, in the lengthening she communicates a sense of disgust. This scraps that no one else wants. Both the Shade that rose from our dirty feet. is partially because of the way she describes seabirds and the “we” that our narrator The game before us was more than baseball. them eating. She does not say they eat she discusses want more, they want the same It was a figure—Hector Moreno says they “feed,” almost as if their eating is treatment as the tourists. She is expressing Quick and hard with turned muscles, undignified. Another reason we can see a that the tourists are blind to the genuine His crouch the one I assumed before an shift in tone is because of the way she says feelings of the seabirds because they do altar tourist’s hand. She is expressing that she not understand the language of begging. Of worn baseball cards, in my room.” (Soto identifies as something other than a tourist Perhaps because they have never had to 1-10) by explicitly saying they are tourist’s hands. beg as tourists; it is reasonable to assume He begins the poem by giving some She is doing this to isolate herself from they have some privilege. The natives on background. He says “ At eight…” right them. the other hand have little access to capital away to introduce the audience to this

11 Volume 20, 2016 time of his life, and it also gives some although we may have assumed it by this player does. He is so excited blood rushes perspective. He goes on to say “I was point. He says he is “a stick of brown light to his face as he says, “my face flared.” In brilliant with my body./.” He tells us that in love with those/ Who could do it.” the last lines he illustrates an acceptance of it is July so it is hot outside. He begins Clearly he is proud to be Mexican because his identity. He almost illustrates a culture describing a memory from childhood to his he refers to himself as a brown light. He blending because baseball is a largely U.S. audience. We can see that this is genuinely wants to be like them. He probably doesn’t American sport, yet he gets excited when he a child’s memory in the next line when he wish to be a migrant worker or factory thinks of his role model. He is proud of his describes “shade that rose from our dirty worker; instead, he dreams to be a baseball two heritages, but he holds more allegiance feet.” They are children and they don’t want player and for people to know his name. with his Mexican side. He is expressing to wear shoes; they are brave and innocent. Children dream big and he being Mexican what is often referred to as brown pride. The language is also that of a child as he does not make him an exception. It appears He is proud to be a brown person which keeps it simple and colloquial. In the next that having grandiose dreams is universal he illustrates when he says “because we line he expresses his excitement about for all children. Perhaps this is why he were coming home to the arms of brown this game with all the “amazement” of a highlights the fact that he is Mexican. people./.”. child. He says, “The game before us was Oftentimes Mexicans and other minorities more than baseball.” he is expressing to the end up in poverty. More often than not In “Black Hair” Soto draws upon both audience the grandeur with which these they end up in the working class. his ethnicity and poverty of his youth. He children saw baseball. To these children is illustrating the difficulty to assimilate baseball was “...a figure- Hector Moreno.” Next he describes himself as a skinny without the economic means to do so. This man means so much to these children. tan boy with dark hair. He looks like the They have no money so instead they dream They try to imitate him as they play majority of young Mexican boys. The to become legends in the most adored baseball. Perhaps this is because as children way he introduces his hair is interesting. American sport: baseball. This illustrates his you look up to successful people who you He does not just say he has black hair he desire to blend into this culture as well as can identify with. You try to find people says, “black torch of hair…” which gives bring his pride in his brown heritage to the that you can identify with to admire, and the audience an image. He paints a clear stadium. picture to his audience of a dark Mexican in this case they found Hector Moreno. “The Elements of San Joaquin” Hector Moreno is Hispanic, so when they child with wild fierce black hair. He also think of him they can imagine themselves seems to present to his audience the In his poem, “The Elements of San becoming successful baseball players as struggle within his family. They seem to be Joaquin,” Gary Soto discusses the land well. stuck in a cycle of poverty. This would also and the fact that the land yields nothing highlight why he wants a job that pays so for him. He includes an epitaph addressed “I came here because I was Mexican, a stick highly; it would raise their social status to to Cesar Chavez, a Chicano civil rights Of brown light in love with those one of prestige. His mother being the terror leader who fought for migrant workers. Who could do it—the triple and hard slide, of mouths may suggest that she takes out Throughout the poem he illustrates a deep The gloves eating balls into double plays. her stress on her family. It appears that even connection to the land. Soto provides What could I do with fifty pounds, my before the father died they struggled. He vivid details to describe the relationship of shyness, says that his face was no longer “hanging migrant workers to the land. The poem is My black torch of hair, about to go out? over the kitchen table,” which conveys that divided into nine sections and each section Father was dead, his face no longer the father was drained from the drudgery deals with the struggles of the migrant Hanging over the table or our sleep, of his life, and after his death this has laborers. The first section is titled “Field.” And my mother was the terror of mouths passed on to the mother. Twisting hurt by butter knives. “The wind sprays pale dirt into my mouth The middle stanza explains why he loves The small, almost invisible scars In the bleachers I was brilliant with my Hector so much and presents us with on my hands. body, an image of being drawn to the game. Waving players in and stomping my feet He begins the third stanza saying “I was The pores in my throat and elbows Growing sweaty in the presence of white brilliant with my body” once again. Now Have taken in a seed of dirt of their own. shirts. he is in the bleachers. He only watches the I chewed sunflower seeds. I drank water players; he doesn’t play. He imitates their After a day in the grape fields near Rolinda And bit my arm through the late innings. actions as he chews sunflower seeds and A fine silt, washed by sweat, When hector lined balls into deep is an avid fan from the bleachers. He is Has settled into the lines Center, in my mind I rounded the bases aggressive as he watches, stomping his feet On my wrists and palms. With him, my face flared, my hair lifting and waving his arms. He is such an active Beautifully, because we were coming home spectator he actually sweats. He might be Already I am becoming the valley, To the arms of brown people.” (Soto 11-30) sweating because he is nervous. He gives A soil that sprouts nothing. the impression that they make him nervous For any of us.” (Soto 1-12) In the next stanza he continues, and this when he says “Growing sweaty in the concept of identity seems significant presence of white shirts./.” In the first line the speaker says, “The wind because he emphasizes the fact that he is sprays pale dirt into my mouth” He is Mexican twice. At the beginning of the He so strongly identifies with Hector explaining that he works in the dirt. The fact second stanza he says, “I came here because that he imagines himself as Hector. He that the soil is pale tells the audience that I was Mexican.” This is the first time the imagines himself being able to maneuver it is very dry soil, which gives the audience narrator tells the audience he is Mexican, around bases the way a professional ball a clue into the conditions the migrants

12 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal work under. The soil is very dry and so it can still barely afford to make a living. He seems in juxtaposition to the first section gets mixed in with the air. He is telling the could be lamenting the fact that even after titled “Fields.” He begins the first stanza audience this when he says, “The pores in all of the work Chavez did for his people of this section saying “ When you got up my throat and elbows/ Have taken in a seed they still struggle with the unfair labor this morning the sun/ Blazed an hour in of dirt of their own/.” These workers work conditions. the sky”; he implies that others have the under very unpleasant conditions because of luxury of sleep and not having to deal with the dry heat in the valley. “A dry wind over the valley the blazing heat of the sun every morning Peeled mountains, grain by grain, at dawn. In the next line he presents his The speaker goes on to illustrate just how To small slopes, loose dirt audience with a lizard hiding from the heat much the dirt has permeated his pores Where red ants tunnel. of the sun. Even the lizard has the privilege while working in the grape fields. In lines of staying out of the sun. seven through nine he continues describing The wind strokes the soil and how it covers him saying, “ A The skulls and spines of cattle In the last stanza of this section the speaker fine silt, washed by sweat,/ Has settled into To white dust, to nothing, says, “And the cold wind you breathed/ the lines/ On my wrists and palms.” It is Was moving under your skin and already illustrated here how the soil just takes over Covers the spiked tracks of beetles, far/ From the small hives of your lungs.” his body, as he is so covered by it that it’s Of tumbleweed, of sparrows When he tells his audience they breathe difficult to differentiate between his skin That pecked the ground for insects. cold wind he seems to be suggesting they and the dirt. The soil blends in to his skin are lucky because he breathes the dry wind because of the sweat from his hard labor. Evenings, when I am in the yard weeding, of the valley. The wind is important because When he sweats the dirt just settles into The wind picks up the breath of my the wind brings dirt with it. The speaker his skin and rests there as if it is a part of armpits mentioned earlier how the soil permeates him. This leads into the next stanza further Like dust, swirls it his skin and his throat. Whomever he is illustrating that the soil is a part of him. Miles away speaking to seemingly doesn’t have the same experience because the wind moves The last stanza of this section is a turning And drops it under their skin far from their tiny lungs. point because he is making a statement. On the ear of a rabid dog, The whole section seems to be directed The entire poem so far has been leading And I take on another life.” (Soto, 13-29) toward a child because earlier he talks up to this statement. The speaker says, about a lizard and a manzanita. Language “Already I am becoming the valley,/ A In the next section of the poem called like manzanita with the “ita” at the end soil that sprouts nothing./ For any of us.” “Wind” the speaker continues his could suggest the speaker is being playful He is further illustrating that because he comparison of himself to the land. The with language for a child as if to tell a story. works the land and the land consumes him land is once again him. The first stanza When he discusses the wind being far from by permeating his skin and his body it is consists of a description of the land that their lungs he says “small hives of your turning him into the valley. It is digging highlights both the heat and dryness of the lungs,”; it implies he is speaking to a child. into the wrinkles and lines of his skin land. He tells the audience it is dry when Due to the narrative nature of this section and making him resemble nothing more he says “A dry wind over the valley.” The it seems more likely that he is speaking to than the valley itself. In the next line he audience understands that it must be very a child. tells the audience that the valley sprouts hot already, but he takes notice of the red nothing. Literally what he means is that ants. The speaker is once again trying to “At dusk the first stars appear. it produces nothing because it is very dry solidify in the reader’s mind the conditions Not one eager finger points toward them. soil and lacks many nutrients that would of the valley. They are communicating very A little later the stars spread with the night allow it to sprout life. When the last line miserable conditions to work under, yet And an orange moon rises is taken into consideration this line is migrant workers do and worse there is no To lead them, like a shepherd, toward figurative. He is telling his audience that profit for them. dawn.” (Soto, 39-43) he feels this deep connection to the land, yet it holds no value for him. He does not “When you got up this morning the sun In the next stanza called Stars, he says at own the land, rather the land owns him. Blazed an hour in the sky, dusk the first stars appear, yet not one He needs the land to live, and as a migrant soul is eager at their sight. This is possibly worker it is his job to work for the land A lizard hid because they are migrant workers. They are and whoever owns it, but he will reap no Under the curled leaves of manzanita not on a set schedule and they can work all rewards ultimately. Even his paycheck from And winked its dark lids. day until they have completed their quota working the land is not a reward because for the day. To most people stars mean whoever owns the land controls his wages Later, the sky grayed, time to sleep, but for them there is no which means that he continually suffers And the cold wind you breathed rest only more work. This stanza gives the from poverty. Was moving under your skin and already impression that the migrant workers finish far work at dusk and head home from there, Since the poem is addressed to Cesar From the small hives of your lungs.” (Soto, especially when he says, “ And an orange Chavez, Soto is acknowledging that 30-38) moon rises/ To lead them, like a shepherd, migrant workers are still treated unfairly. toward dawn./.” It could be that the Perhaps he is asking for Chicanos to In the third section also titled Wind, the migrant workers are going to sleep when continue the fight Chavez had fought for. speaker is talking to someone else. He the first stars appear. They are not excited They put their sweat into the land, yet they seems to highlight the difference between because the stars signal going to sleep them, and making note of his struggles, it 13 Volume 20, 2016 only to prepare for the next day. When autumn comes he “should be out of work.” And goes unfound, my fingerprints dawn arrives they will once again have to He is expressing to his audience that Slowly growing a fur of dust— work until dusk. They work long hours in after the harvest he will go back to being difficult manual labor. The image of them jobless. He says his silverware and plates One hundred years from now being led towards dawn bears resemblance “will go unused.” Once the harvest is over There should be no reason to believe to a hoard of workers leaving work only to he will not have money to buy food and I lived.”(Soto, 76-93) return at dawn. cook meals, so his utensils will go without purpose. His pockets will be empty because During the section called Fog it seems as if “In June the sun is a bonnet of light he will not have money to fill them. He our narrator is just observing. This could Coming up, will be penniless and therefore the only be because he is jobless and has no money Little by little, thing that will supplement his pockets is or energy to leave the house. This stanza From behind a skyline of pine. lint. When he says his slacks will smell like gives the impression that he has taken to dust it almost sounds like depression has people watching from his room. He seems The pastures sway with fiddle-neck, rendered him immobile. Being jobless has to be slipping into a deeper depression in Tassels of foxtail. left him hopeless because he has no food, the way that he describes things. This scene no money, and a poor quality of life. This is almost ominous with the fog swallowing At Piedra stanza brings attention to the condition everything in its vicinity. At the same time A couple fish on the river’s edge, that migrant laborers must suffer through. it expresses the hopelessness that he feels. Their shadows deep against the water. He again mentions his lack of money and This is expressed when he says in 100 years Above, in the stubbled slopes, food when he says the skin of his belly “There should be no reason to believe/ Cows climb down will tighten and there will be no use for I lived.” He is basically saying that his As the heat rises pockets. This short stanza communicates existence is so insignificant because in 100 In a mist of blond locusts, the unhappiness felt by the migrant years no one will even remember him or Returning to the valley.” (Soto, 44-57) laborers. what he contributed to the world. In the next stanza entitled Sun, he provides “East of the sun’s slant, in the vineyard that “In this moment when the light starts up beautiful imagery of the land. He has an never failed, In the east and rubs intimate relationship with the land and A wind crossed my face, moving the dust The horizon until it catches fire, pays attention to the most intimate details And a portion of my voice a step closer to of it because of his experience with it. He a new year. We enter the fields to hoe, knows the types of trees, and he describes Row after row, among the small flags of the light from the sun with such ardor; he The sky went black in the ninth hour of onion, doesn’t merely say the bright sun. He calls rolling trays, Waving off the dragonflies the sun “a bonnet of light.” The next lines And in the distance ropes of rain dropped That ladder the air.” (Soto, 94-100) where he again names the types of plant to pull me life illustrate his connection to the land. He In the next section called Daybreak, the From the thick harvest that was not mine.” tone has shifted once again. It seems the does not say the yellow flowers; he says the (Soto, 70-75) “pastures sway with fiddleneck.” He also growing season is back. Daybreak gives adds more detail about the foxtail by saying In the stanza entitled harvest it seems that the impression that their lives are better tassels of foxtale. the end of the farming season has passed or somehow. This section feels uplifting is approaching and the migrant laborers are almost as if their souls are rejuvenated. The “When autumn rains flatten sycamore preparing for the next growing season. At laborers are restored. They once again have leaves, the end of the harvest we once again see the jobs, money, and access to food. But what The tiny volcanos of dirt narrator express the fact that he does not happens when the growing season is over? Ants raised around their holes, profit from the harvest. The cycle will start all over again and they I should be out of work. will slip into an abyss of hopelessness. The “If you go to your window narrator begins to express this toward the My silverware and stack of plates will go You will notice a fog drifting in. end of the section. He began the section unused with an optimistic tone, as these workers Like the old, my two good slacks The sun is no stronger than a flashlight. were happy they had their jobs back, but Will smother under a growth of lint Not all the sweaters then reality sunk in. And smell of the old dust Hung in closets all summer That rises “And tears the onions raise When the closet door opens or closes. Could soak up this mist. The fog: Do not begin in your eyes but in ours, A mouth nibbling everything to its origin, In the salt blown The skin of my belly will tighten like a belt Pomegranate trees, stolen bicycles, From one blister into another;” (Soto, And there will be no reason for pockets.” 101-104) (Soto, 58-69) The string of lights at a used-car lot, In this stanza we see the workers come to A Pontiac with scorched valves. In the next section called Rain, he the realization that this happiness is only temporary. Tears have already begun to continues discussing the experiences of In Fresno the fog is passing migrant workers. They are out of work well up in their eyes. They are coming to The young thief prying a window screen, terms with the fact that this is their lives when the season changes and there is no Graying my hair that falls longer work on the farms. He says when and once the growing season is over they 14 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal will have to once again face poverty, misery, continuous line instead it is broken up in while introducing the idea of between-ness. and hunger. This stanza is heartbreaking; small dashes of droplets, tiny with barely He does so through the use of these two the narrator adequately communicates the enough to supplement the earth’s crops. words, “border between”; both mean to be despair of these people. If it was not clear Their happiness comes in droplets as it is between or to separate. He also introduces before, it is clear now that the narrator is not and cannot be continuous because they the two country’s cultures that he must communicating a message on behalf of will always be subject to a vicious cycle strike a balance between: Mexico and the migrant laborers when he says, “And tears of poverty. They are migrant laborers and United States. the onions raise/ Do not begin in your their lives depend on the crop and those in eyes but in ours,/.” He seeks to make the power of the agriculture. “The places in between places, individuals aware of the labor that goes They are like little countries into the food they eat. Then he goes on to In this poem Soto does an impeccable Themselves, with their own holidays” say that salt is blown from one blister into job of creating an awareness of the (Rios, 4-6) another. This phrase seems like he is saying conditions of the migrant farm laborers. He communicates this unfair cycle of despair In the second stanza he explicitly salt is rubbed in to their wounds. This is introduces his inbetween-ness. He says the probably because once the growing season and happiness. He communicates their struggle with poverty and hunger. This Nogales is one of “The places in between is over and their work day is over they will places,” so he is introducing his duality see others profit from their work. They will poem does exactly what Soto intended, which is to communicate and allow the already. He highlights Nogales because see other people eat the fruit and crop that it is a special place, much like himself. It they labored over. audience to feel the anxiety that those who experience this go through. is special because it is a place in between “They begin in knowing places. He addresses its significance when You will never waken to bear Alberto Rios he says, “They are like little countries/ Themselves, with their own holidays/.” The hour timed to a heart beat, “Day of the Refugios” The wind pressing us closer to the ground.” He is expressing that these places are (Soto, 105-108) In Alberto Rio’s poem “Day of the so different that they are like countries Refugios” Rios finds a way to blend his themselves. Like himself this place must In this stanza he is describing the process two cultures. Rios differs in his approach struggle between two cultures, languages of how this realization starts. It starts with to assimilation compared to many Chicano and customs. For instance it is a place them realizing they won’t wake up like authors who have been canonized. A with both Anglo-Americans and Mexican clockwork at the same time anymore. majority of Chicano authors struggle Americans. Each culture has its own values Their internal clock won’t matter once to assimilate or to be comfortable with and holidays which is the main idea of this the growing season is over. The wind balancing two cultures. Rios seems to strike poem. What would normally be culture pressing them closer to the ground is hard harmony between his two identities by clash has taken on a new meaning different to interpret. He could possibly be saying blending them. In this poem he illustrates from a single solidified meaning. Thus it the wind pushes them into realization and that he is proud of both of his cultures; is unlike Mexico and the United States sadness. It pushes them to the ground into Rios has created his own way for his two because in Nogales the best parts of both a depression soon to overwhelm them. cultures to coexist. He does this through a cultures have combined to create their own little holiday. “When the season ends, charming narrative discussing his Fourth of And the onions are unplugged from their July from childhood. Throughout the poem “Taken a little from everywhere. sleep, he illustrates both how the poem aligns My Fourth of July is from childhood, We won’t forget what you failed to see, with the American holiday and how it had Childhood itself a kind of country, too.” And nothing will heal dual meanings in his family. (Rios, 7-9) Under the rain’s broken fingers.” (Soto, In Mexico and Latin America, it is common 109-113) In this stanza he discusses the idea of to celebrate one’s saint’s day instead of ones blending the cultures. They seem to take This last stanza almost seems like a birthday. This is an act of community. pieces from each culture since he says, challenge. It is a jab at those who do not “I was born in Nogales, Arizona, “Taken a little from everywhere/.” He seek to understand the pain of the workers On the border between continues the poem with an air of wonder who picked the food they enjoy. He says, Mexico and the United States.” (Rios, 1-3) and amazement. This stanza illustrates “We won’t forget what you failed to see,/.” how significant this single holiday is to He is taking a very accusatory tone. The Before the poem begins he provides him. Perhaps it is his favorite childhood audience can feel his vexation in this line. information relevant for a deeper memory. This could be because he has an He is angry that people cannot see their understanding of the poems context. If he interesting relationship with countries since struggle and the lack of sympathy from had not included this the audience may not he lives in between two. The celebration others. In the last line he is saying there have understood that it is more common of one country is on this day and the are no reparations for this pain. The rains to celebrate one’s Saint’s Day in Latin celebration of his Mexican heritage through broken fingers reflect the theme of a broken American countries. He begins the poem his “saint’s day” is on the very same day. cycle. During one season they are full of explaining the geographical significance He equates his childhood with a country life and content with their lives, and then to him, which also gives insight into the to illustrate not only its significance but to during the next season they are empty idea of culture blending. He says he is further emphasize this day’s significance. swallowed in despair. The rains broken from “Nogales, Arizona,/ On the border It seems to represent his patriotism. He is fingers are a metaphor for the cycle of their between/ Mexico and the United States/.” proud of both of these countries and the lives. The rain does not come down in one He is providing background information country he has created on his own. The 15 Volume 20, 2016 idea of patriotism is so significant in this more than the fact that the Fourth of July much celebration. What’s more interesting poem because our narrator is Mexican- is important in the United States. He is is the fact that he doesn’t introduce a couple American. He is so proud of these two trying to express that this holiday was of names, but he takes the time to include cultures which he is trying to communicate representative of this country. He does a multitude of names. It’s almost as if he in this poem. this also when he italicized “dia de los doesn’t want to stop saying these names, Refugios.” This could possibly be because it as if each new name brings him a sense of “It’s a place that’s far from me now, is a foreign language, but more than likely satisfaction pronouncing it to his audience. A place I’d like to visit again. he was trying to put emphasis on these This stanza holds such beauty because of The Fourth of July takes me there.” (Rios, words. He could have said it in English the pure love that is explicit within the nine 10-12) like he did for the title. Perhaps it is more names that he feels must be uttered. In this stanza he addresses the fact that he respectful to say it in Spanish because it is a Latin American holiday. Throughout the rest of the poem he has grown older. He no longer experiences continues giving in-depth detail into the the same Fourth of July. This could perhaps “The saint’s day of people named Refugio. pride he has for both cultures. He seems to be because as he grew older he saw border I come from a family of people with names, exemplify the theme of culture blending in security become heavily reinforced. Either Real names, not-afraid names, with colors.” a positive way. He chooses to embrace and way he is suggesting here that he no longer (Rios, 19-21) combine both parts of his heritage. Rios experiences the same Fourth of July, and seems to have found a healthy approach to it may just be because he has aged. The In the sixth stanza he explains the assimilation in this poem. narrator still holds the same amount of significance behind the phrase he used in love for this holiday. It is still a savory the sentence prior. He explains that “Dia “A Simple Thing To Know” memory. The memory of the Fourth of de los refugios” is the saint’s day of people July is so strong that it can take him to his named Refugio. In the last stanza we In “A Simple Thing To Know” Alberto childhood. This holiday alone takes him heard the narrator’s pure excitement about Rios presents his audience with a different back to the pure joy he experienced as a this holiday. Here he is going to discuss perspective from the one presented in “Day child. This is communicated in the poem; his pride in the other half of his identity. of the Refugios.” In this one he is much he shares this happiness with his audience. He does this by beginning to discuss more sympathetic toward the struggle The audience can feel the excitement in his his family’s name. He adopts a childlike of those growing up on the wrong side voice when he says, “The Fourth of July pride in discussing the names. It almost of the Mexican American border. The takes me there.” seems as if he is poking fun at people with poem consists of a series of 19 couplets common Anglo-American names. This is and the last stanza consisting of only one “In that childhood place and border place because of the way he says “I come from a line breaking the form. The poem is a The Fourth of July, like everything else, family of people with names,/.” Don’t all narrative poem and it focuses on one single It meant more than just one thing.” (Rios, people come from a family with names? happening. The story is about a man who 13-15) Then he continues by saying “Real names, crosses the border to Douglas at his wife’s request to buy some tuna. This holiday is the epitome of his not-afraid names, with colors/.” It seems childhood because it represents who he apparent that he is making a jab at Anglo- “The whole thing is not much: A man is. This holiday illustrates his duality. It Americans in favor of his Mexican heritage. On the border between Douglas and Agua heightens his sense of love and pride with He seems to be joking because he is so Prieta,” (Rios, 1-2) his identity as he demonstrates in the rest proud of his family’s colorful names. He of the poem. The Fourth of July means is essentially saying that Anglo-American Each stanza adds something significant multiple things to him. It represents names are colorless or bland. It seems like to the story and builds on the intensity this country which he is so proud of. It he is suggesting that Hispanic names have of the situation. It is clear that what is represents himself and his identity. It flavor and boldness. about to ensue will seem very unjustified represents the women in his life. All of his somehow. We can tell that it is because of “Like the fireworks: Refugio, the way the narrator downplays the event family have a personal connection to this Magarito, Matilde, Alvaro, Consuelo, day and he shares this with them. at the beginning only to propagate the Humberto, Olga, Celina, Gilberto.” (Rios, intensity as the story continues. In the “In the United States the Fourth of July, 22-24) first line the narrator provides a disclaimer It was the United States. He continues by proving how flavorful saying, “The whole thing is not much:/.” In Mexico it was the dia de los Refugios,” these names are. He is so proud of these In this he is minimizing the severity of the (Rios, 16-18) names he feels the need to display them situation by saying it wasn’t much. This is to his audience. He says each name with perhaps because this is an event that will In the fifth stanza his excitement about upset people and provide a sobering effect this holiday once again is revealed. We pride, avoiding nicknames or American translations. He does not even offer on them. This event is sobering because see the excitement because of his use of the residents of Nogales who witness this semantics. He purposefully uses italics to American translations for these names as he feels they deserved their chance to be will be reminded of just how strict border emphasize the significance of these two policy is. The residents on the other side of words. The first time he does this is with pronounced correctly without having to compromise them for the typical American the border will be made to feel insignificant “It was the United States./.” His emphasis due to a later event where the guards on this holiday representing the United tongue. His family has real names “Like the fireworks…” he says. He aligns their names actually forget about the man in the cell. States illustrates his excitement about this In the second line of the first couplet he holiday. He is attempting to communicate with something as magnificent as fireworks because in his eyes they are worthy of this provides the setting by telling the audience 16 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal that this is about a border between Mexico illuminate how those on the other side of They are mocked because others believe and the US; specifically Douglas and Agua the border are treated. their Spanish is insufficient. Prieta. Gloria Anzaldua In the next lines she says, “Because we “The man, on instructions from his wife- speak with tongues of fire we are culturally For the family and because she couldn’t, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza crucified.” (Anzaldua, 80) This could He went shopping. Gloria Anzaldua’s book of poetry entitled suggest two things: they speak with passion He crossed from Mexico to the United Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza and a pride in their linguistic identity or States,” (Rios, 3-6) is an amalgamation of poetry, Chicana/o humiliation because others criticize them history and prose. It is an interesting for their Chicano-ness. They are culturally In the next couplet the narrator tells us crucified because they are meant to be the reasoning behind the event; his wife blend and the poetry reveals much about Anzaldua’s approach to assimilation. humiliated by their Chicano linguistic asked him to go shopping on this side of identities. the border because she couldn’t. There may Interspersed throughout the poetry are be multiple reasons she could not go, but various references to Aztec gods such as In the last sentence she says “Racially, it seems as if it was because she could not Huitzipochtli the Mexican god of war culturally and linguistically somos huerfanos- cross legally while her husband could. We and La Llorona. Along with the various we speak an orphan tongue.”(Anzaldua, 80) begin to feel the intensity here as we realize references to Aztec theology there is also She is saying that they are orphans. They he is crossing the border from Mexico a balance of English and Spanish in the are orphans because they speak an orphan which means he will be treated with more poetry. Oftentimes Anzaldua will begin tongue. It is not their language and it is hostility than if it had been the other way speaking in Spanish or Nahuatl and it may broken from true Spanish because they are around. In the next couplet he tells us that require the reader to have some knowledge Chicano. They speak a version of Spanish he is in fact crossing from Mexico to the of her native tongue. Occasionally some of that is different from Spaniard Spanish. The United States. The line ends with a comma the poems lack titles so I must speak about Chicanos being Mexican they speak only telling us there is more to this story. This them in terms of the chapters found in her a version of it that has evolved and been makes it seem as if he did not cross the book. separated from its mother tongue. They border; instead, something is about to In an excerpt from Chapter 5 entitled speak a combination of languages being happen. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she starts that they must find ways to speak English, Spanish, and other Chicano dialects. “Walking past the officials, who looked her section on linguistic terrorism with busy. a paragraph addressing the Chicano’s In this short paragraph Anzaldua He didn’t want to bother them struggle with language. She begins saying communicates the way that being “Deslenguadas. Somos los del espanol linguistically inefficient makes her and And he didn’t want to wait. deficiente.” (Anzaldua, 80).She begins other Chicanos feel while also arguing for He walked past them, just a little.” the poem in Spanish illustrating both the linguistic pride for Chicanos. (Rios, 7-10) primacy of Spanish and the significance of the feminine –as in deslenguadas. “Don’t give in Chicanita” Next the intensity is full force because it Translated she is saying “Outspoken. We is apparent what is about to happen. If are the Spanish deficient.” This stanza In this poem Anzaldua argues for Chicana he crosses the border and walks past the is significant for many Chicano readers cultural pride. She is speaking to a officials it will seem as if he is crossing because she is addressing the insecurity miss Anzaldua and telling her not to be illegally. He is not trying to be clandestine many Chicano’s face about their language. pressured into assimilating into dominant in this process as the narrator says, “He They fear that they speak Spanish poorly, culture. It is such an inspiring poem. It didn’t want to bother them/,” but he also and therefore they are Spanish deficient. is as if she is talking to a child, reassuring “didn’t want to wait.” This was his mistake and encouraging her to take pride in her because even though it was an innocent In the next sentence she says, “Your heritage. It is a beautiful poem and it is action he was immediately perceived to be linguistic nightmare, you linguistic very affectionate in essence while having a guilty. He only barely passed the officials aberration, your linguistic mestizaje, political element. when they caught and threw him in a jail the subject of your burla.” (Anzaldua, 80) She seems to be addressing dominant “Don’t give in mi prietita cell. When the officials forget that they Tighten your belt, endure. had locked him in a cell the audience culture, or people who do not believe Chicano Spanish to be good enough. She Your lineage is ancient, your roots like immediately begins to sympathize with those of the mesquite, his sense of insignificance. Later, when is addressing Chicanos in this paragraph. Chicanos are a dominant cultures linguistic firmly planted, digging underground he tells the janitor why he had not said toward that current,the soul of tierra something, we begin to see this idea of nightmare. She seems to be suggesting they are other Spanish speaker’s nightmare. madre- oppression because he admits he knew your origin.” (Anzaldua, 1-7) better than that. This implies that there is Possibly because some may believe that some language that those on the wrong side Chicanos butcher Spanish with their She begins the poem saying “Don’t give of the border must know. various contributions to their language. in mi prietita/.” She seems to be talking to Apart from that many Chicanos are a child as prieta is a nickname for a dark In this poem Rios depicts the struggle of increasingly speaking English as their Mexican woman and prietita suggests it dealing with border security through the primary language meaning much of the is a little girl because of the -ita ending. short tale of a man who gets arrested and language could be sacrificed in this process. She is telling the child not to give in to forgotten about. This poem does a lot to They are the subject ofburla or ridicule. peer pressure it seems. At this point it

17 Volume 20, 2016 seems to be related to her race because she border/in the age before the Gringo when nor our Indian woman’s spirit. points out the dark girl’s skin color in a Texas was Mexico.” Here, she is illustrating And when the Gringos are gone- comforting manner. This illustrates that some bitterness toward the United States see how they kill one another- even at a young age children face issues confiscation of Mexican land. There seems here we’ll still be like the horned toad and with their racial identities. In the next line to be irritation in her tone especially with the lizard she says, “tighten your belt, endure,” and it her word choice. Gringo is often a term of relics of an earlier age evokes such emotion within the reader. The derision used against Anglo-Americans. survivors of the First Fire Age-el Quinto strength she is trying to instill in this young Sol.” (Anzaldua, 23-30) woman is already evident. She tells her to In line 15 she tells the young girl “Strong endure instead of telling her everything is women reared you: my sister, your mom, In line 23 she says, “But they will never okay. She tells her the truth, that things my mother and I.” This almost gives the take that pride of being Mexicana-Chicana- may not be okay, but she is strong enough reader a clue as to who Missy Anzaldua is. Tejana/ nor our Indian women’s spirit.” In to endure it. It seems that Missy Anzaldua could be her these lines she takes pride in her heritage. niece. She embraces all aspects of her cultural In the next line she begins to reach far back identity. She does not merely identify to her ancient roots, which is a common “And yes, they’ve taken our lands. as Mexican or Chicana, or Tejana but thread throughout her poetry. She often Not even the cemetery is our now instead all three. This illustrates the need to makes references to her ancient Aztec where they buried Don Urbano embrace all of her that is not Anglo. She is lineage. She says, “Your lineage is ancient, your great great grandfather. embracing all parts of her identity here that your roots like those of the mesquite/ Hard times like fodder we carry are not Anglo-American. She illustrates that firmly planted, digging underground/ with curved backs we walk.” (Anzaldua, she is in a recovery stage by resisting all of toward that current, the soul of tierra 17-22) the Anglo-American aspects of her identity madre-/ your origin./”In this line she is In the next stanza the first line says “And and holding on to the Mexican and Indian discussing her Mexican heritage as she tells yes, they’ve taken our lands./ Not even instead. the young girl that her roots are strong. She the cemetery is ours now/ where they says her roots are firmly planted in mother In the next few lines she illustrates a hatred buried Don Urbano/ your great-great toward Anglo-American culture when she earth or tierra madre. This line seems to grandfather.” Here she is talking about be directed at those whose roots are not yet again addresses them as gringos. She the significance of land in the Mexican says, “And when the Gringos are gone--/ in North American soil. This becomes American heritage. When the United States especially evident in the next few stanzas. see how they one another--/ here we’ll still confiscated a large portion of Mexican- be like the horned toad and the lizard/ “Yes, mi ijita, your people were raised en American land they forced many Mexicans relics of an earlier age/ survivors of the First los ranchos- out of their homeland. This land held Fire Age--el Quinto Sol.” Once again she hear in the valley near the Rio-Grande spiritual and sentimental value to them. illustrates the pride she has in her heritage. you descended from the first cowboy, the Family cemeteries, acres of land, and She also illustrates her disdain toward vaquero,” homes were taken from them. Here, she “Gringos.” She continues to address Anglo- is illustrating that she was a part of this Americans as gringos. She seems to hope Right smack in the border herself. The gringos have taken their lands they will destroy themselves and her race in the age before the Gringo when Texas and not even their family cemetery belongs once again will survive. Here she seems to was Mexico to them anymore. They have claimed be discussing how they survived the first over en los ranches los Vergeles y Jesus everything that was theirs including the colonization by the Spanish. Her race is full Maria- land that holds their family’s remains. They of survivors and this verifies the strength Davila land. kept the land that her great grandfather of her race to her. She predicts they will Strong women reared you: Don Urbano was buried. This illustrates remain there even when Anglo-America has my sister, your mom, my mother and I.” the disrespect behind the act of their fallen. (Anzaldua, 8-16) confiscation. “Don” is a term of respect in the Hispanic heritage often used to address “Perhaps we’ll be dying of hunger as usual In the second stanza she begins by saying, our elders. When she says Don Urbano but we’ll be members of a new species “Yes, m’ijita, your people were raised en she suggests he was meant to be respected skin tone between black and bronze los ranchos/ here in the Valley near the because he was an elder, yet the land where second eyelid under the first Rio Grande/ you descended from the first his body was buried was disrespected. They with the power to look at the sun through cowboy, the vaquero,/.” Again in this stanza take Mexican culture and tradition for naked eyes. she addresses the person she is speaking to granted when they deny the spiritual value And alive mi’ijita, very much alive.” with an -ita again which communicates a that the land has to them. In the next line (Anzaldua, 31-36) tone of affection. The way she tells this girl she says, “Hard times like fodder we carry/ she is descended from the first girl almost with curved backs we walk.” This line In the second to last stanza she continues seems as if she is trying to say don’t be seems to depict them sullenly leaving their saying, “ Perhaps we’ll be dying of hunger ashamed, we were the original cowboys. lands. They are being forced out of their as usual/but we’ll be members of a new She seems proud to be descended from homelands. Their curved backs illustrate species/ skin tone between black and those who were raised in the Valley. It their grief over being forced to leave their bronze/ second eyelid under the first/ seems as if she is suggesting there is purity land behind. with the power to look at the sun through to her roots that Anglo-Americans lack. In naked eyes. And alive m’ijita, very much the next line she says, “right smack in the “But they will never take that pride alive.” Again, she is expressing her belief of being Mexicana-Chicana-tejana in the strength of her people. She says 18 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal they are strong because of strife they are This poem is about having pride in her is no longer speaking to you, used to facing. They constantly struggle heritage. She has faith that one day that mexicanas call you rajetas, with poverty. Without money it is hard to conditions will improve for her people. that denying the Anglo inside you purchase food which is why she says they She also illustrates much defiance toward is as bad as having denied the Indian or will be dying of hunger as usual. Even Anglo-American culture. In this poem Black;” (Anzaldua, 6-11) though they will be starving they will Anzaldua clearly resists Anglo-American survive again. She addresses their skin color culture and thus reverts only to her In this stanza we see that she does fear saying they are between bronze and black. Chicana roots. She is in the recovery stage judgment from her community. She fears This is because Anzaldua believes in them because she resists Anglo culture and what they will call her if she acts on a being the cosmic race and thus a blend of instead turns to her indigenous Mexican particular identity. When she says, “To live Spanish, Indian, and black resulting in her and Chicano heritage. in the borderlands means knowing/ the blended skin color. When she says we can india in you, betrayed for 500 years,/ is no look straight into the sun she is saying we “To live in the Borderlands means you” longer speaking to you,/” she acknowledges can face even the worst suffering. She wraps the Indian part of her, but says that she no In “To live in the Borderlands means you” longer speaks to her. This could suggest up the stanza saying, “And alive m’ijita, Gloria Anzaldua discusses a conflict living very much alive.” This line seems very that she feels disconnected from the on the border has had on her identity. She Indian in her because of the conflict with comforting with the way she says my child discusses living in a state of limbo because and repeats the word alive. The confidence all of her other potential identities. She she must live with several identities. For could be suggesting this part of her no she has in their continuity is also evident in the most part she deals with her identity the way she says very much alive. longer exists because for 500 years it has as a Chicana, but she also deals with her been systematically taken from her. Her Yes, in a few years or centuries identity as a mix of several races including Indian identity could have possibly been la Raza will rise up, tongue intact black, Hispanic, Indian, and mulata. muzzled. She is also bothered by the fact carrying the best of all the cultures. “are neither hispana india negra espanola that Mexicans call her a “rajeta” or traitor That sleeping serpent, ni gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, half-breed for denying the Anglo in her. They get rebellion-(r)evolution, will spring up. caught in the crossfire between camps angry because denying the Anglo “is as Like old skin will fall the slave ways of while carrying all five races on your back bad as having denied the Indian or Black;” obedience, acceptance, silence. not knowing which side to turn to, run This sentence is confusing because they say Like serpent lightning we’ll move, little from;” (Anzaldua, 1-5) that denying the Anglo in her is as bad as woman. denying the black or Indian. This suggests You’ll see.” (Anzaldua, 37-45) The title actually serves as the first line of that they want her to embrace all of these the poem because the first stanza continues races. Being chastised for not embracing In the last stanza she addresses the idea of the sentence. In the first line the narrator all three of these identities leaves her even her various cultural identities saying, “ Yes, is saying that living in the borderlands more confused because she still does not in a few years or centuries la raza will rise means your identity cannot be defined know which identity she wants to embrace up, tongue intact/ carrying the best of all by any one thing instead you “are neither or which one she can feel comfortable in. the cultures.” In this line she is proud to be hispana india negra espanola, ni gabacha, res an amalgamation of all of these different mestiza, mulata, half-breed.” Living in the “Cuando vives en la frontera cultures and she wants to take the best borderlands makes you all of these identities. people walk through you, the wind steals part of each. She continues saying, “That The next line continues with “caught in the your voice, sleeping serpent,/ rebellion-(r)evolution, crossfire between camps/ while carrying you’re a burra, buey, scapegoat, will spring up.” This is interesting because all five races on your back.” In this line forerunner of a new race, she is saying revolution and evolution, the confusion that has been caused by this half and half-both woman and man- equating them to each other almost. She conflict in identity is evident. Our narrator neither-- could be suggesting that evolution will lead feels that they are under attack and there a new gender;” (Anzaldua, 12-17) to a revolution or vice versa. In the last is no refuge because they are half breed. lines of the stanza and the poem she says, This stanza begins in Spanish with Cuando“ They are under attack from various angles vives en la frontera/” meaning when you “ Like old skin will fall the slave ways of since they are a blend of so many races obedience, acceptance, silence./ like serpent live in the Borderlands. She goes on to they cannot form a full alliance with one say “people walk through you, the wind lightning we’ll move, little woman./ You’ll race. They cannot be seen as just Hispanic, see.” In these last lines she is saying that steals your voice,/” which implies she feels Indian, black, mestiza or mulato. They are insignificant or underappreciated. People Chicano’s will no longer be ashamed of all five which makes it hard for them to being Mexican or Chicano. They will no treat her differently and they separate her form an allegiance or pride in one. This from themselves because she is a burra longer be obedient to dominant culture, confusion is further illustrated when she says and they will no longer be forced to stifle which means a donkey. They are calling her “not knowing which side to turn to, run a cross-breed and shaming her for it instead their opinions. She says they will be like from;” She does not know which part of her serpent lightning meaning they will be of celebrating her multiplicity. In the first identity she wants to embrace. She could part of the sentence she says she is a “Burra, powerful and strong. Then she tells the girl possibly fear judgment from anyone who “you’ll see” which illustrates her confidence buey, scapegoat,/.” These descriptions all disagrees with which part of her identity she have negative connotations. Burra and yet again that one day Mexicans will rise up chooses to embrace. from the hardship. They will still suffer, but buey translate to donkey and ox. It is they will no longer be forced to feel inferior “To live in the Borderlands means knowing interesting that she is saying they are like because they will be the survivors. the the india in you, betrayed for 500 years, oxen because oxen are castrated to make

19 Volume 20, 2016 controllable. She could be trying to suggest a trigger and she won’t be able to quit. The Taking her skin color would take away part that something has been taken from her, way she continues to describe what it will do of her identity. Next she says, “Crush out possibly the ability to feel comfortable in to her almost sounds as if she is comparing the kernel, your heart/” meaning that they her identity; instead, she must struggle to it to dying. She says “the rope crushing the take away what gives her life to her heart. find which identity she can turn to. In the hollow of your throat,” which sounds like She could be suggesting that they want to next line there is a shift in the tone. Instead a severe thirst or suffocation. It also seems take away her heart which is her identity. of referring to the negative aspects of this to be part of the culture in the borderlands. The kernel that represents her heart also identity she says, “you are a forerunner Alcoholism is probably very prominent represents her identity that lies in her of a new race.” This has a very powerful among the border because of all the stress culture which she takes pride in. They are connotation. It almost seems like she is a dealing with poverty and border conflicts. trying to beat out her culture to make her leader because she has all of the identities more synonymous with Anglo-American to deal with and they are part of a new “In the borderlands culture. She expresses this when she says race. you are the battleground “pinch you roll you out/ smelling like white where enemies are kin to each other; bread but dead.” “To live in the Borderlands means to you are at home, a stranger, put chile in the borscht, the border disputes have been settled “To survive the Borderlands eat whole wheat tortillas, the volley of shots have shattered the truce you must live sin fronteras speak Tex-Mex with a brooklyn accent; you are wounded, lost in action be a crossroads.” (Anzaldua, 40-42) be stopped by la migra at the border dead, fighting back;” (Anzaldua, 27-34) checkpoints;” (Anzaldua, 18-22) In the last stanza she makes a switch from In the third to last stanza she begins by the word live in “to live in the borderlands” In this stanza she begins with, “To live in saying “in the borderlands/ you are the to “to survive in the borderlands.” It the Borderlands means to/ put chile in the battleground./.” She is taking a more seems she has gotten to what she means borscht.” In this line she is blending two defensive tone in these lines. She says, “you to express the entire time; one does not culinary traditions. Borscht is a European are the battleground” meaning that they live in the borderlands instead you survive cuisine whereas chile or jalepeño is found fight over us. This seems to parallel how the borderlands. There are targets on your in many Mexican dishes, illustrating unity conflict is often fought over land and in back from various vantage points because of two cultures. In the next line another this case they hold a deep connection to you are an easy outcast. When you are an culinary tradition is altered by making the land. In this sense they are the land amalgamation of several identities it is easy whole wheat tortillas. Whole wheat is because they hold a strong connection to for you to serve as everyone’s scapegoat. She healthier, but that is not how they were it, and with the border conflict they are concludes with “you must live sin fronteras/ meant to be made. They were meant to the battleground because the land is what’s be a crossroads/.” She is saying you must be flour tortillas or corn tortillas. Making being fought for. She continues saying live without borders in the borderlands. In them whole wheat illustrates how they where enemies are kin to each other. This the borderlands you must compromise to have been anglicized. In the next line she could mean two things. First it could mean survive. says it means to speak tex-mex with a that Mexicans are enemies to each other Brooklyn accent meaning that they speak because they are separated by a border and In “To live in the Borderlands means you” Spanglish with Brooklyn accents. These so must oppose their kin. Second it could Anzaldua expresses why life is difficult in cultures are all colliding and they are not mean that the United States and Mexico the borderlands. Life is difficult because necessarily in harmony. In the last line she are enemies, but they are kin because they she lives in a place where her identity says that it means you will “be stopped by share European ancestors. causes great conflict for her. She struggles la migra at the border checkpoints.” She is balancing this complexity, and concludes stopped at checkpoints by la migra which “To live in the borderlands means saying one must compromise each of these is immigration. She is stopped because the mill with the razor white teeth wants to identities to survive in the borderlands shred off she is Mexican-American and she appears Conclusion Mexican so they have to make sure she is a your olive-red skin, crush out the kernel, citizen of the U.S. This is difficult for her your heart This research sought to illuminate thematic because she does live on the border so this pound you pinch you roll you out assimilation in Chicano poetry. I was is an everyday part of her life. smelling like white bread but dead;” hoping to document how Chicanos (Anzaldua, 35-39) deal with the theme of assimilation “Living in the Borderlands means you fight The penultimate stanza is much more in their poetry. My thesis states that hard to there are four thematic approaches to resist the gold elixir beckoning from the aggressive than the preceding stanzas. The scene she is depicting is graphic. She says, assimilation in Chicano poetry: Successful bottle, assimilation, resistance to assimilation, the pull of the gun barrel, “To live in the borderland means/ the mill with the razor white teeth wants to struggle to assimilate, and a recovery from the rope crushing the hollow of your assimilation. Through my research of the throat;” (Anzaldua, 23-26) shred off your olive red skin.” This scene is taking on a morbid tone because she is topic I can now conclude that my original She says that in the borderlands it’s hard describing skin being shredded off with prediction was partially correct. I have to fight alcoholism. In the Borderlands teeth. Their skin is being shredded off three conclusions: alcohol is not just alcohol but “the gold because of its color; perhaps it delineates 1.) Not all Mexican-Americans identify as elixir.” She refers to pulling the gun barrel her as a Mexican. Her skin color makes Chicanos. suggesting that this is dangerous. It seems her different, yet it is one of the few things she is suggesting that once they drink it’s like she has left to connect her to her culture. 2.) Some Chicanos deal with assimilation 20 GVSU McNair Scholars Journal at a different depth than other Chicanos. and at other times they can appear to be struggling to assimilation. Other times they 3.) There are not four approaches but may illustrate a desire to assimilate. rather a spectrum of Chicano authors’ approaches. In the future it would be interesting to incorporate a sociology faculty member While all of our authors dealt with the regarding this research. The topic of topic of assimilation in their poetry, not assimilation is a sociological concept, all of the authors identified as Chicano. In making it hard to concentrate in depth on fact, many of the authors were identified the topic, given that it is not my field of as Chicano poets by other scholars. Many study. With the help of a sociology faculty discuss Chicanos and what it means to member we could focus more in depth on be Chicano. Mexican-American is a term the relationship between assimilation and that seems equally appropriate for some Chicano poetry. of the authors, as the hyphen imitates the conflicted identities they discuss. Some Illuminating upon the work of Chicano of the authors have been identified as authors is significant because representation Chicano because of the political stance in in literature is important. There must be their poetry; for example, authors such as room for underrepresented cultures in Cervantes and Anzaldua who both embrace the literary cannon. There is a growing this part of their identity. Other authors Hispanic community in the United States; like Gary Soto do not explicitly identify therefore, it is significant to recognize that as Chicano but do not separate themselves representation matters. Children and adults from Chicano concerns such as field labor will look for experiences they can identify and the struggle of balancing cultures. with in literature: One of those experiences Other authors like Alberto Rios do not being assimilation. These works by identify as Chicano and seem more aligned different Chicano authors offers a variety with the term Mexican-American. Rios also of experiences regarding assimilation for does not separate himself from Chicano readers to identify with. concerns, but he does take a significantly less political stance and instead focuses on the complexity and beauty of each of his cultures. My second conclusion is that some Chicanos deal with assimilation in their poetry at different depths, meaning some discuss assimilation a great deal and others do not. The poetry of Anzaldua and Cervantes was heavy with their approaches to assimilation. The other two poets, Rios and Soto, dealt less with assimilation. Their poetry dealt with a variety of things such as other common Chicano or Mexican- American experiences. My third conclusion is that I was too narrow in my original prediction of the four stances. As I was conducting research I noticed it was hard to categorize authors into an approach. Facets of some of the approaches occasionally overlapped. These rigid four approaches did not allow for a smooth discussion of each authors’ relationship with assimilation in their poetry. It was very confining. I came to realize there are not 4 approaches to assimilation. It is closer to a spectrum of Chicano authors’ approach to assimilation. There are not 4 delineated approaches but rather a spectrum of approaches that authors can take. The authors can also move on the spectrum, as at different times an author may be resistant to assimilation 21 Volume 20, 2016 Works Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands: the new mestiza: la Frontera. San Fransisco: Anne Lute Books, 1999. Print. Buchenau, Jürgen. Mexican Mosaic: A Brief History of Mexico. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, Inc, 2008. Print. Cervantes, Lorna Dee. Eplumada. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1981. Print. Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement. Prod. National Latino Communications Center and Galan Productions, Inc. Perf. Henry Cisneros. PBS, 1996. VHS. Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Rios, Alberto. The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body.Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press, 2002. Print. --- Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1999. Print. Shirley, Carl R. Shirley, Paula W. Understanding Chicano Literature. Colombia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988. Print. Soto, Gary. Black Hair. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1985. Print. ---New and Selected Poems. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1995. Print. Tatum, Charles M. Chicano Literature. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982. Print. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide.2nd ed. New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2006. Print.

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