Gaining Ground or Holding Ground Two present day ethnic poets Louise Erdich and Gary Soto
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Gaining Ground or Holding Ground; Ethnic Difference in Poetic Rhythms
Native Americans lost an entire continent to white settlers; Mexican-Americans, comprise an increasing percentage of the United States populace. Two present day ethnic poets, Louise Erdich and Gary Soto are representatives of those two cultures whose poems, "Dear John Wayne," and "Mexicans Begin Jogging," seem to convey, in addition to any other messages, the sense of disenfranchisement or entitlement of their respective cultures. Soto's "Mexicans Begin Jogging," is a peppy, mini-epic poem, which recounts the border patrol coming to the sweat shop where the author is working, and his escape, which turns into a victory lap. Similarly, Erdich's "Dear John Wayne," is a deceptively painterly description of Indians watching a John Wayne movie at a hot drive-in, with the movie's overt implications of Indians barring white "progress," and the effect of the movie on its viewer. Many poetic mechanisms metaphors, personifications, irony are used by each author to carry the content or message. However, other mechanisms - meter, alliterations, stanza length and word connotations are also employed by both authors to impart a particular pace or rhythm that underscores the ethnicity and enhances the evocativeness of the poem.
Gary Soto's poem "Mexicans Begin Jogging," by Gary Soto uses strong imagery, and metaphor in the opening stanzas, " under the press of an oven yellow with flame," to create a sense of a sweat shop. The ensuing interruption, using short, clipped phases, " . . ...