English 460 Final Paper

Recent Chicano Poetry

Due: November 21, 2006 by noon in my office

Length: 7-10 typed pages (250 words per page—1,750 to 2,500 words)

Be sure to follow my Essay Guide and to use MLA format! Go here for quoting poetry.

Be brief and concise if refer to earlier poets we have studied. This paper is not about them but about our final four poets.

While you must be concise, you must also give brief, accurate, and pointed examples to support your claims.

Demetria Martínez, Alberto Ríos, Juan Felípe Herrera, & Rodrigo Toscano (& Arteaga the critic)

Choose one or two of our last four poets and discuss a theme, image, or stylistic trait that interests you in his and/or her work.

You may want to (but don't have to) consider the following:

• What is the author's main point or poetic characteristic?
• How does this poet's work qualify as (or complicate the notion of) Chicano poetry?
• What is the poet doing that seems different from the other poetry we've read?
• How does this poet use language? How is language related to his or her goals?
• Do you see any continuity (or complication) between the poetry of the Chicano Movement and this poet?
  

Specific poets:

Demetria Martínez

1. How does the title, Breathing Between the Lines, operate in the book as a whole? What is its Biblical reference? What is the significance of its punning on the expression "reading between the lines"? What does the title suggest about reading and writing poetry?

2. Martínez writes, "so many years I can count them / in illegal U.S. wars" (7). How does her poetry respond to U.S. foreign policy? To other global political events? How might she see her poetry as an answer to these problems?

3. Read two or three of her poems in light of what she tells us in her "Afterword."

Juan Felípe Herrera

Sáenz, on the back cover of Border-Crosser With a Lamborghini Dream, writes: "Using the cacophonous rhythms of urban life, Herrera indulges in a search for spiritual and political centers." Read two or three of Herrera's poems in light of this statement, paying attention to as many of Sáenz's words in this blurb as possible.

Martínez & Herrera

Both poets pay homage to Allen Ginsberg (Martínez in "Wanted," Herrera in "Punk Half Panther"). Why? What does Ginsberg represent to them? Why is his example important for chicana/o poets? How does their writing style imitate his?

Toscano

1. In the introductory comments to the audio version of "Premise No. 1" Toscano mentions that it is ironic that he got his start as a Spoken Word poet. Why does he see this as ironic? What does Spoken Word poetry represent? What about Spoken Word assumptions might he want to ironically distance himself from?

2. Toscano makes many references to politics of all sorts. What are some of the political issues he presents? How is his poetry (both in form and content) a reaction to those issues?

George Hartley • 460 • EnglishDepartment • Ohio University