Jimmy Santiago Baca

In "Coming Into Language," Jimmy Santiago Baca describes how he went from being illiterate to learning how to read and write and eventually becoming a poet while being in prison. From being embarrassed for not understanding and asking questions Baca become illiterate, and in ninth grade he decided to drop out. The only thing that seemed to interest him was books with pictures of people of the same nationality as him. When listening to prisoners talk in “ Chicano language” out loud it had inspired him to learn his own language. In this narrative Baca explains to us that becoming a writer helped him through tough years when he was an inmate.

Luis was growing up into the life of gang banging, gaining a reputation in San Gabriel by being scouted into bigger gangs in the area. Increasing his involvement in the gang by stealing form stores, to eventually being part of premeditated arson and murders. Luis was well on his way to a life in prison or worse, death. By growing up during a time of racial discrimination, options were limited to becoming a factory worker or gangster. Luis met

Anthony learns that Gabi’s mother is very ill. Anthony then goes to his parents’ house to visit and stay with them. After spending a couple days back on the streets he grew up on, Anthony meets up with some of his old friends, who eventually tell him that Gabi’s little brother, Rafael, is involved with some gangs. Anthony tries to bring this up with Gabi, but Gabi then gets an urgent call and has to leave. Anthony learns the next day that Gabi’s mother has died so he goes to visit her. He then finds Gabi using heroin and has an emotional conversation about it. After a few days, Anthony has to return to the prep school, where he meets up with his friend, Chanelle. The two have romantic relations and Anthony feels very guilty about cheating on Gabi. Meanwhile, Gabi suspects this is happening and falls back into her drug-using ways. Anthony returns home on another break a few weeks later and can’t locate Gabi. After some lengthy research, Anthony finds Gabi in a crack house, and comes to her rescue by taking her out. Soon Anthony puts Gabi in a rehab center to cleanse her addiction. After she has recovered and is clean of drugs, Gabi comes back to Anthony, they both forgive each other for their actions and decide to live a happy life

In the essay “Coming into Language”, the author Jimmy Santiago Baca expresses how he used reading and writing as an escape to his reality. He begins by talking about his first engagement with books during his night shifts at the hospital where he was working. During this time, Baca would only look at the pictures in books because he didn’t know how to read. He found a book on Chicano history and found his true identity. It was from then on that Baca found he felt free reading and expressing himself on paper. When he first went to prison at the age of seventeen and heard the inmates reading aloud together is when he ironically said, “Never had I felt such freedom as in that dormitory.” (Baca, 1992, pg52) This quote is an example of Baca feeling

Rodriguez begins to become more involved in his classroom by his new grip on the English language. He shares fewer and fewer words with his mother and father. His tone now transforms into guilt. As Rodriguez's public language becomes more fluent, he forgets how to speak Spanish. "I would have been happier about my public success had I not recalled, sometimes, what it had been like earlier, when my family conveyed its intimacy through a set of conveniently private sound.? He begins to break out of the cocoon as a slow or disadvantaged child and blooms into a regular kid in his white society that only uses English. He feels a great sense of betrayal of his Mexican past. His connection that held him so close to his family is destabilized.

Poetry is often used as a form of writing to express emotions or tell a story. The poems “LA Nocturne: The Angels”, by Xavier Villaurrutia and “Meditations on the South Valley: Poem IX” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, are two distinctive poems. In Baca’s poem he expresses the disbelief and the sorrow of the death of a boy named Eddie. While, in Villaurrutia’s poem reveals an expression of secret desire men have. Baca and Villaurrutia’s poems, both use repetition, imagery and metaphors in their poems to convey their message.

Rob Baker’s tone and diction assists the reader in comprehending how Bacas past shaped his future. The serious tone and the vocabulary Baker applies; adds to the total effect of Bacas story. The vocabulary is simple enough for a varitey of ages to understand, although elaborate enough to be capable of picturing the scene, “The healer who tended to her wound and then brought Baca into the world said that because of the venom Baca would be able o see in the dark and he would change many times in his life” (Baker 893). Both diction and and tone appeals to the emotions of the reader, for it causes the reader to be aware that this story is reality to Jimmy Santiago Baca.

This dehumanization can be felt within many global communities today and continues to destroy the well-being of many individuals. Whether this freedom of speech is denied due to poverty or overbearing authority, it provokes a widespread sense of insecurity and vulnerability. This emotional instability is expressed in the autobiography “Coming into Language,” where Jimmy Santiago Baca reveals the hardships of his poverty-stricken childhood. Growing up in an orphanage and later living on the streets, Baca did not have access to a viable education or support system, and eventually dropped out of school. This abandonment of education was due to educators focusing on Baca’s deficiencies opposed to his potential, and creating an environment where

Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem “Oppression” discusses the importance of remaining emotionally and mentally strong when enduring oppression. For those suffering from the emotional trauma of being held captive illegally, singing is one solution a poet offers to those who are oppressed as he states, “Look deep to find the grains of hope and strength,/ and sing, my brothers and sisters” (Baca 6-7). Singing is an act that a person can generally freely participate in, which is why Baca suggests it since it is a small symbol of retaliation against the oppressors. Even though captors may rob a person of his physical freedom, the person can still show self-control by choosing to make the best of the situation by singing to uplift his emotional state. In

The book True Notebooks by Mark Salzman highlights what our youth behind bars are going through while waiting for decisions on their lives to be made. Two interesting characters that stood out the most to me happened to be Mr. Mark Salzman because he embarked on an incredible journey of finding himself while helping others at the same time and Kevin Jackson who grew as a person throughout the book. Mr. Salzman’s character grew a lot from a man who was afraid of entering the steps of juvenile hall into a role model for the incarnated youth. While on the other hand, Kevin Jackson’s character grew from a shyboy to somebody who became very expressive of himself and appreciative of things around him. An article that helped me better understand Mr. Salzman’s charcter and Jackson’s was Synthesized Macsunlties by Victor Rios from our unit two reading due to the fact I was given an insight on Salzman’s and Jackson’s character traits.

When arriving at Florence State Prison Jimmy Santiago Baca’s life changed. Upon resaving a letter from a man named Harry he became interested on learning to read and write. Harry’s letter gave Jimmy some sense of belonging. He stated his feelings on the letter, “I was eager to communicate with someone to alleviate the boredom of the dungeon.” All it took was a paper with words to take someone away from that place they despised. Harry had sent Baca a dictionary so he could learn new words. To Jimmy this opened a new world to him. This gave him an opportunity on having control over something the prison couldn’t take from him.

Jimmy Santiago Baca is a prime example of the impact that can be extracted from a strong and caring passion towards an education. Baca was passionate in learning how to read when he was in prison, and he eventually achieved that goal. With his passion fueling his career, Baca would go on to become a poet, writer, and education activists for diverse classrooms. Baca is fueled by improving the conditions of those who feel like they have hit rock bottom like he once was. Several books were written from Baca’s backstory in hopes that people would learn from his mistakes and lessons learned within his lifetime. One of the subject areas that Baca has spent a good amount of his life promoting and discussing is the importance of education. Baca wrote a collection of stories that showed his experiences where people attempted to keep him down, but Baca’s drive to continue to expand and learn prevented him from staying down. This collection of stories is called “Stories from the Edge,” and Baca decided to add something extra with this book. He decided to go into a classroom with diverse students and he shared his stories from the book in greater detail. There were open discussions with the students about how his stories related to the students lives. After the student group left, Baca met with the teachers that aided with the student interaction, and they discussed the teaching methods that fuel the students motivation to learn. Jimmy Baca clearly is passionate in aiding individuals

First of all, the setting of this novel contributes to the Rivera family’s overall perception of what it means to be an American. To start this off, the author chooses a small American city where groups of Latino immigrants with their own language and traditions, lived together in the same apartment building. All these immigrants experienced similar problems since they moved from their countries. For example, in the novel after every other chapter the author

Junot Díaz’s Drown, a collection of short stories, chronicles the events of Yunior and his family. Each story focuses Yunior and his struggle growing up as a Dominican immigrant and finding a place for himself within American society. Throughout the progression of the novel, Yunior realizes the stereotypes placed on him and recognizes that being white is advantageous. Yunior’s experience growing up both in the Dominican Republic and the States has shaped his perspective on life and life choices.

The racist connotation that Miss Jimenez associates with who she thinks would “fit in” society’s box is a definite reflection of the hardships Valdez witnessed in his community. For example, the Zoot Suit Riots that occurred in 1944 was rooted by a reaction by young Mexican-American males against a culture that did not want them to be a part of it. Stuart Cosgrove examines this issue when he states, "In the most obvious ways they had been stripped of their customs, beliefs and language.” (*Vargas 317) These youths were going through an identity crisis because they did not know which culture they could identify with. Miss Jimenez is a character that embodies that repression Valdez explains in “Los Vendidos.”