Friday, April 8, 2016

Post #3: Other Latin American Poets

Read "A Sampling of Other Latin American Poets" (189-201), find a poem that speaks to you, and explain why/how you find it meaningful.

42 comments:

  1. My favorite poem in this section was "The Emptiness of Being a Man". I think what the author was saying was that we try to fill ourselves with temporary and unfulfilling things all of our life. He describes it as "Man's empty fullness is like a sack filled with sponges,it is filled with emptiness" I think this is meaningful because it made me stop and think about what emptiness we try to fill ourselves up with today like money, finding self-worth in others, etc.

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  2. I personally enjoyed reading and felt I connected most to was "Tenth 9" by Roberts Juarroz. The author made me think of the different viewpoints of history, the author then takes elements of history and creates stories throughout the different time periods. I found meaning to this poem due to the progression of time and out actions in society having an impact on future generations.

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  3. The poem that spoke to me from “The Poetry of Our World: Latin America” was “Limits”. I chose this poem because in the poem the author realizes he’s getting realizing his mortality and how he’s not going to be able to finish all the things he wants to do. This got me thinking about how I’m always putting off adventures and things I want to do till tomorrow because I don’t even think about tomorrow not being a possibility. This poem got me thinking that I should just take life by the horns and seize the day.

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  4. The poem I enjoyed the most from this section was "For Those Dead, Our Dead" by Ernesto Cardenal. Cardenal uses an anaphora to emphasize the message in his poem, which I interpreted as; in times of recognition and excellence it is important to remember those before us. Those who paved the way or taught us something that contributed to our achievements. When Cardenal says "think about the ones who died" he means remember them and honor them for their contributions to your life. Also at the end of the poem, the last line states, "the ones who died delegated you" meaning that you too will die and would want to be thought of and memorized like the ones who are gone.

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  5. The poem that most interested me was "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. This poem spoke to me because it really gets you thinking. I think the poem is saying that when you get all these recognitions, achievements, and awards to think about those who died such horrible and painful deaths because you are no different than them. Just receiving better so that's why they entrusted in you.

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  6. The poem that caught my attention was "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal translated by Jonathan Cohen. My understanding of the poem is how people who are alive and successful should not take anything for granted. In all honesty, anyone who is alive and healthy should be grateful. The poem refers back to "think about the ones who died" because these people are the reason for your achievement. Maybe these people who died created the career or way of living you have now in the present day. The people who died basically gave the people who are living what they have. Overall, anyone alive should be grateful for what they have because in time your life will come to an end.

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  7. "Boundaries" by José Emilio Pacheco spoke to me the most because of the repeating lines from the beginning of each stanza. The lines all describe inevitable life events. From losing to loving to destroying, they all become, in some point, a part of life whether enjoyed or not. The poem conveys a realization of the impermanence of time. Time, being filled with such significant moments in one's lives, yet it naturally ceases to end. The structure of the poem brings somewhat of a realization to the audience by changing the first lines of the stanza towards the end. I found "Boundaries" meaningful because, as humans, no one truly knows what the future holds, which is why it is important to not take the present moment for granted.

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  8. The Poem that spoke to me the most was ' The Emptiness of Being a Man' because it compares the emptyness of a mans interior to an empty sack. Men can feel empty inside and still stand up but an empty sack is not able to stand up. This poem spoke to me because as I read it, it made me go back in time a couple of years back in my life when i felt empty inside & it made me think of how my life has changed after i accepted God in my life. It saddening to see so many people not only teenagers but even older men try to fill their empty lives with drugs, alcahol & even women. The way i interepreted this poem was that the sponges in the sack are a comparison of things that people try to get to take their emptyness away like having everything they could possible desire but they'll still feel empty.

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  9. I really enjoyed Jaime Sabines poem 'If someone tells you it not for sure'. My main reason for choosing this poem is that I feel a lot of people could relate to this as we should not always believe what we hear, as how are we to know what is true or false. It also gives the message of how important trust is and we should always question things we are unsure about or have difficulty believing because not everything you hear is true even if it seems pretty convincing.

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  10. The poem that I found most meaningful in this section is “For Those Dead, Our Dead…” by Ernesto Cardenal. This poem emphasizes the importance of remembering those that have passed on every time we experience times of greatness. When we achieve something and succeed in life we are representing those that have taught us a lesson, motivated us, and pushed us beyond our limits. This poem speaks to me because my grandma passed away last year and every time I accomplish something great I remember how much she motivated me to never give up. The author of the poem uses anaphora with the constant repetition of the line, “think about the ones who died.” Every accomplishment in thanks to all of those that have planted a seed in our lives, therefore; every time we undertake greatness, we should remember them and thank them.
    -Marlene Herrera

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  11. I enjoyed the poem "In Trying Times" by Heberto Padilla. The poem talked about trying times asking for a man's various body parts and then asked him to get up and walk at the end. Throughout our life time, we will experience grief and depression and sadness. These moment will make us feel as if a part of us is being taken away. But it's only in that moment we will feel like that, because once the grief is over, we will realize we are still all put together after all. It's the trying times that will test us and push us to our limits. What is important is that have to be strong enough to get back up and keep walking after the trying times.
    -Emily Leyva

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  12. My favorite poem in this section was "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure". I really enjoyed this poem because I believe it is trying to tell us that we do not have to believe every thing we hear about someone or something. It wants us to realize how the best way to learn about someone it is by talking directly to them rather than believing what others have to say. This is why I agree with the poem and I think that's the best way to approach meeting new people.

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  13. Jocelyne RodriguezApril 11, 2016 at 9:11 PM

    The poem that spoke to me the most was the poem titled "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. What really caught my attention was the repeating line, "think about the ones who died." Throughout the poem this line appears after situations where someone is receiving an award or someone is granted a position of high power, which I believe is a reminder to the reader to stay humble and remember those who have passed on. In addition, I also think that the author was trying to remind the audience to remember the dead because they fought for our freedom and justice and we represent their sacrifices. During the second half of the poem the momentum switches and becomes dark when describing how those have died. While reading this poem you are able to visualize what the author is describing making it the most memorable poem to me.

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  14. The poem that I enjoyed reading was "Boundaries" by Jose Emilio Pacheco. The author explains the passing of time and how every moment and life event is a part of you. The poem makes me want to take more advantage of all the time I have, but also makes me reminisce on all the time that has already passed. The line, "I felt a profound pity for the years to come," makes me think about how I don't want to grow old and realize that I took time for granted and didn't enjoy this exciting time in my life. The repeated lines of "all you have lost is yours/your own" I think reiterates the point that all the time you have ultimately ends and we need to enjoy life to the fullest.

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  15. The poem "If someone tells you it's not for sure", by Jaime Sabines caught my attention because I found it very interesting. I believe that the poem is about knowing what is true or false. How sometimes everything that we hear or see isn't true or what it seems to be and that there's more to it and that we have to take the take and figure out the truth behind it. I think it's very true about what we hear isn't always true such like rumors sometimes aren't true and that it's better if we hear from the person directly than to assume what people are talking about is true or not.

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  17. The poem that immediately spoke to me the first time I read it was "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure". What I took as the meaning of this is very religious. I believe it's conveying a message that if anyone has doubt that God exist, take a look at all the little things in life, all the things that are overlooked, all the things that people take for granted, because without God these things wouldn't be possible. Coming from a religious background I was raised to know that without God all the things we appreciate in life, and even the things we overlook would not be possible.

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  18. The poem that intrigued me the most was "For those Dead, Our Dead". I enjoyed it because the first half of the poem states different scenarios where the person is being acknowledged and recognized in high status while reminding the reader of those who have died. The second half of the poem gives the reader a visualization of those who have died, either through torture or had suffered death painfully. The final line gives the reader a reason to remember those who had died because they had fought for justice and a better future. This poem caught my eye overall because the various outlines mentioned in the first half of the poem, such as when the reader "gets the nomination, the award, the promotion" are reminders of how the living represent those who had died

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  19. My favorite poem has to be "The Emptiness of Being a Man", by Jose Emilio Pacheco. This poem really spoke to me because of how relatable it is. People everyday try and fill themselves with empty happiness. I do the same so it is extremely relatable for me.

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  20. The poem that spoke to me was "Boundaries" by José Emilio Pacheco. I found this poem meaningful, because he shows that we all have boundaries put up. The first line of each stanza can be connected to a life event. Each stanza starts off with loving, losing, and destroying something or someone, which is a reason behind making and putting up boundaries. I think the message this poem is giving off is that nobody really understands what the future is holding for us and we build up boundaries to protect ourselves from what we are not ready for or afraid of.

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  21. The poem that stood out to me the most was "In Trying Times" by Herberto Padilla. The poem talks about taking away body parts from a human. The speaker asks the man for his time, his hands, his eyes, his lips, his legs, his heart, his shoulders, and his breast. The man (human) is left broken. To me, this symbolizes the hard times that we all go through at some point. We end up feeling weak and ripped apart inside. Hard times will damage the human internally and externally but we must keep trying and never give up. At the end of the poem the last thing the speaker asks of the man (human) to do is to go take a walk. After having taken away all that he had, he was still asked to keep on moving forward. I found this poem motivational and have learned that I must continue to move forward in life no matter what.

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  22. My favorite poem was "The Emptiness of Being a Man." I liked how Jose Emilio Pacheco used defamiliarization to really make the reader think about what it is like to feel 'empty'. His use of imagery also helps bring the new way of thinking to a concept one can easily connect with.

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  23. The poem I picked was by Roberto Juarroz called "Tenth.9." This poem spoke to me because I felt like it wasn't just any ordinary poem. This was a poem about a poem about what they consist of. It talks about the history involved, the hesitation and the covering of history, and how poems can be acts. I felt connected to this poem because of the way it talked about the different types of history that any poem can consist of. It makes me think of all the different types of poems and the different types of history that are implemented in each one. This made me think even though not all poems actually have history in them, there is always a history behind every story.

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  24. For those Dead, Our Dead written by Ernest Cardinal. Is a social commentary of modern life. Its symbolic story is both elaborate and detailed and brings into context a lot of moral dilemmas. He question the current progression of society and it inability to develop proper values. The poem adds a unique perspective on today's social norms with the author expressing a huge disappointment in the current generation disconnection from the world due to our lack of communication. The poem captivates me with his take on modern life and interesting symbolism and comparison with death..

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  25. The poem that I thought was the most interesting was "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure" by Jaime Sabine. Thecreason why I found it very interesting was because it is a straight forward; but at the same time giving us a message. This poem can relate to many of us because people will gossip about one another without knowing the truth. Sabine's point in this poem is if it didn't come out directly from that's person mouth, most likely it is not truth. Also, throughout the stanzas we do see repetition which makes the poem flow.

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  26. A poem that spoke to me was "Boundaries" by Jose Emilio Pacheco. I interpreted the message of the poem to be that every experience we live is never lost. We have to power to bring those memories back to life and they will always be with us. We should enjoy things in the moment in which they happen. The message of this poem really spoke to me because often times, we get so caught up with wanting to "grow up" and forget to treasure and appreciate the memories we are currently making. We should live life day by day and appreciate the experiences, which make up our lives.

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  27. I really enjoyed reading the poem "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure" by Jamie Sabines. I enjoyed it because of the message it sends to the reader. That if your not for sure then basically why are you even saying it? If you can't say your 100% positive in the words that are coming out then why say this story that could possibly be false. It makes you wonder what is the purpose of this person telling you a story. The poem says that there is so much details to a story that even if you were present you may not have grasped every detail. So when someone says "it's not for sure" then there's a low chance the facts are accurate.

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  28. The poem “For those dead, our dead…” by Ernesto Cardenal is my favorite poem because it refers to the past. The repeats the line “think about the ones who died” as a way to remind the reader about the people in the past that died. It is meaningful to me because I feel that the poem is reminding me of our roots and past. The people in the past that died helped create the society and made us who we are until today.
    - Janel Sanchez

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  29. From all the poems the one that grabbed my attention was "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. What I think that the author is trying to say is that before us someone else also tried doing the same thing but they “died” trying. Maybe they didn’t really die physically but they may have died emotionally, someone had told them that they couldn’t do it. We have to always remember that someone before us may have tried doing something and may not have succeeded. I find this poem meaningful to me because it reminds me remember all those people that were not able get where I am now. For example I am in college but I will never forget that my parents “died” to give me a better future. They didn’t really died, but they tried getting a better education and were not able to. They were not able to achieve a higher education, because they started working and prefer that their children have a better future and higher education . Also that many people try to succeed but not everyone makes it.

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  30. The Latin American poem the stood out to me the most in this section was the poem from Nicaragua "For Those Dead, Are Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. The repeated phrase in the poem, "..think about the ones who died" was such a bold statement, which is why the poem stood out to me the most. I believed this phrase really contributed to the poet's overall theme of honoring the martyrs who fought for freedom for the future generations. This poem is very meaningful to me because I see that today in America we sometimes forget to honor the people who suffered and sacrificed their life, just so we can live a better life.

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  31. I like the poem, "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure" because its starts out with a clear picture of what to expect of how to feel when they are unsure about a situation. For us human beings, we constantly tell the other person to make sure their information is correct; cross their heart hope to die statement. For the rest of the poem, Claribel Alegria describes every bit of detail of what happening in the streets and these bits of pictures that our imagination cannot comprehend. I think Claribel was trying to say that in all these detailed writings, there is no time to be unsure of what has been said. Time flies by fast as to a man waiting to be buried.

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  32. The poem that is the most meaningful is the poem "The Emptiness of Being A Man" by the author Joao Cabral de Melo Neto, this poem is meaningful because it gives a different meaning of a man being empty inside. It also compares throughout the poem the emptiness of a man to a sack. The poem also gives a lot of imaginative imagery for example, "Man's empty fullness is like a sack filled with sponges, is filled with emptiness" this poem gives me more of an idea that a man has feelings and in the long run some men are seen to be tough but at the same time the emptiness keeps growing and growing. I really think this poem is meaningful because it speaks about the man and how he needs comfort because at the end of the day it keeps swelling.

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  33. Cindy Magana MaganaApril 12, 2016 at 7:37 AM

    I find that the poem "I am a Root" speaks to me because I believe that it speaks of about a person in suffering, maybe from heartbreak, and does not see meaning in his or her life anymore. So this person wants to commit suicide. The figurative language used in this poem helps create a mental image of what life now means to the spaker.

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  34. I enjoyed the poem "the emptiness of Being a Man", the poem was rather interesting in how the beginning is nothing but personification of objects to compare to those of a empty man. Although the poem contradicts itself in the middle when explains how the more full the more empty one would feel. Almost saying that only due to the mans inability to stop his intake, this is what will lead him to his ultimate demise and be alone. Although towards the end of the poem he speaks of how his emptiness is just what makes him more and more full, that with the constant lose of himself he gains what he doesn't want. It almost resembles a ballon as a whole poem, i felt like he explained that man can also be taken down, and beat by the nothing that grows from inside of him while he is down.

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  35. The poem that I found most meaningful to me was, "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. This was a very serious and motivating poem. The phrase, "think about the ones who died" was repeated several times throughout the first part of the poem. I believe he wanted us to realize what we have and that all of our success from today came from the struggle and hardships from people who had to endure it in the past. I think it is also telling us to be humble and grateful for all of our freedom and accomplishments we are able to make. In the second part of the poem, there is a lot of imagery, he describes what these people had to go to in order to be where we are today. He ends the poem telling us that we are the ones representing those who died, so we should live our lives to the fullest and be proud of who we are.

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  36. The poem that spoke to me was “For Those Dead, Our Dead…” by Ernesto Cardenal because it is saying how there are people that who fought or are fighting for us in order to have our rights. If it was not for those who sacrificed and died for our human and civil rights, we would not be here doing what we are doing today; therefore, it is important to pause for a second and think about those who died and take recognition of them.

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  37. Ernesto Cardenal's, "For Those Dead, Our Dead...", delivers the message about the previous generations affecting us today. It's about those who have died before or currently to give us basic human rights. Rights from the Civil War and even the Revolution. People cannot forget those roots, its how this country came together. On the side note, its also important to look back on the lineage of a family tree because without them, our existence wouldn't be possible.

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  38. Heberto Padilla's "In Trying Times" really stood out to me personally because there has been a lot of hardship in my life and even though there may be obstacles and we may fall down we still need to get back up and walk. This man endured so many things but in the end he was still encourage to get up and walk.

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  39. I am root by Claribel Alegria spoke to me because she wrote about isolation and how she wishes to be isolated yet at the same time doesn't want to be isolated and i think the conflict between wanting two opposite things is very human. She wants all the good things out of life but she does not want the pain so she would rather isolate herself and be unhappy.

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  40. The poem that spoke out to me was "For Those Dead, Our Dead..." by Ernesto Cardenal. It spoke out to me because it made me think of two receiving ends of war. The first one is the individuals that we are constantly reminded of, the solders who have fought for us in the past to preserve freedom and liberty. The other was the innocent by standards who died because they were caught up in the war.

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  41. The poem that really stood out to me was "If Someone Tells You It's Not For Sure" because it takes about honesty, integrity, and fidelity. How people should keep their word when it comes down to speaking. Jaime Sabines talks in this poem with very descriptive words. For example, "In the name of the undefeated God..." this quote reminds me of when people take God's name in vein and never actually keep their word.

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  42. The poem that really stood out to me is "In Trying Times" by Herberto Padilla. This poem really stood out to me because within the last year I have gone through so many hardships in my life and despite how many times I wanted to just give up, I got up and kept fighting and now I am happier than ever. I am night and day compared to what I was last year.

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