Jimmy Santiago Baca talks to us in this poem in first person to directly get the message he is trying to tell. Through the poem he is trying to tell us to not falter and have hope. "Remembering you are human," is a powerful yet simple way of telling us that we can only be so great. By separating the poem into four stanzas gives each stanza great value. It starts with something relatable to something we must do. And this all ties back to having hope, because life can be hard on us but there will always be a beauty in it. The poem informs us just how life can be beautiful in its harshness, "The sun will share your birthdays with you behind the bars." And all of this again goes from weak to strong to being brave. Because as humans we cam only be strong for so long that eventually it comes the time to deal with the reality that we are not as strong as we think we are, and that's when we are called to be brave. So when I picture this poem I see a bright cloudless sky. I feel the wind going at a steady pace, and I can smell spring arriving. I feel calm and at peace knowing that I can do nothing but enjoy the wonderful day inside a cage. But what makes this poem interesting to me is when he says, "And sing, my brothers and sisters, and sing." I could right away connect with this poem in a spiritual sense. Whenever I get sad or have a hard time I tend to listen to gospel music, and I sing with it declaring the already spoken words. Somehow it makes me feel better, it makes me feel as if everything is going to be okay just by singing a song and I think that's what Baca is trying to get through with that thought. To which ties back to having hope, and find a peace within us. This can also be found in how he repeats brothers and sister to not forget that he cares about what we are going through. Overall I believe that what Baca is trying to say is that there is someone caring for us whether it's him, the world itself, or someone who cares for us. They all want us to keep going in life and overcome the mountain we have in front of us with bravery.
What you have here is more of a response than an analysis. Did you follow my model?
ReplyDeleteRemember, when you analyze you first look at the meaning and interpret it. Then you think about how the author crafts that meaning -- by word choice, repetition, figurative language, or whatever. Finally, you analyze how those devices create meaning and tie it back to the over-arching idea. Do you see how that is different than what you've done here?
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