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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. ...
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.
Approximate Word count = 917
Approximate Pages = 3.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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