Julio Polanco Identity Essay

In Identity, Julio Noboa Polanco uses foreshadowing and tone to show how being a weed is better.

In “Identify”, Julio Noboa Polanco uses foreshadowing and tone to show, illustrate, and communicate the theme of the poem. The theme is that being an ugly weed, or different, is better than being a pretty flower, or normal. Would you rather be a pretty flower, or any ugly weed?

Polanco’s use of imagery emphasizes symbolism and finding inner beauty. First of all, on stanza 6 line 21, it says, “If I could stand alone strong and free, I’d rather be a tall ugly weed.” This quote means Polanco would choose freedom over beauty. The weed symbolizes freedom and unattractiveness, whereas the flower symbolizes beauty and captivity. I believe Polanco used imagery to allow the reader to imagine the situation, thus giving a better understanding.

In the poem, “Identity”, Julio Polanco uses the literary device of symbolism to develop a theme of individualism. The narrator just wants to “stand alone, strong and free. [He] rather be a tall ugly weed” (Polanco Lines 21-22) “than to be a pleasant-smelling flower” (Polanco Line 15). The author uses an ugly weed and pretty flowers to symbolise something deeper. The ugly weed truly represents being yourself and not changing for someone else while the pretty flowers represents the crowd. The narrator wants to be himself and stand out. He doesn’t want to change just to fit in with everyone else he wants to be a strong individual. With this symbolism, the theme of individualism is truly shown.

Conquistador is a term that defines the soldiers and explorers of the New World. There were many conquistadors before the discovery of the New World. However, the most important and unforgettable conquistador was born sometime in the 1470s. Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez, was the Spanish conquistador who was the leader of the expedition of the Inca Empire. And behind this expedition, there is a long story that defines a man and events that prove facts. So, who is Francisco Pizarro? According to the facts, Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Spain. His date of birth is unknown, but some say that it is some time in the 1470s, perhaps 1474. He was the illegitimate son of infantry Colonel Gonzalo Pizarro, who was serving in Navarre and the Italian campaigns and his mother was Francisca Gonzalez, who was a poor woman and she married late and had a son who is Francisco Martin de Alcantara (The Most Evil Men In History - Francisco Pizarro,2012).

Hesiod’s versions of the Prometheus/Pandora story and the book of Genesis’s story of Eve’s act of eating the forbidden fruit both introduce a female figure whose actions are connected with the seeming introduction of evil into the world. At first glance, it appears that the Genesis story is more compelling than Hesiod’s account at explaining the origin of evil because its monotheistic structure makes the logic behind the evils far more clear and straightforward than Hesiod’s logic. The act of disobedience by Eve seems fully her own fault while God (Yahweh) is faultless. However, Genesis is too simple because the story of Prometheus/Pandora is far more complex. The Hesiod story of Prometheus/Pandora is more compelling than Genesis because the conflict allowed disputes between the gods in its polytheistic worldview rather than one god making Hesiod more compelling at explaining the evils of the world.

This supports the theme that it's possible to survive against all odds because even though there was an argument on whether or not you agree to live or die at the age of 21 many people strived to survive. While many people can see the palm of your hand which is where the flower is they can easily tell someone that there is a

     Francisco Pizarro was a conquistador born in Trujillo, Spain in about 1471. His father, Gonzalo Pizarro, was an infantry captain and he taught Francisco how to fight at an early age. Francisco Pizarro never learned to read and write but he was full of adventure.

John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" is a story that is full of symbolism. After the first read, it might seem like an innocent tale about a woman and her garden. However, upon further examination, the reader learns it is actually a story about a woman's desires and frustrations in her life. Steinbeck uses many examples, such as the flowers to symbolize the thoughts and ideas of the main character, Elisa, in this story.

Polanco feels that he’d rather be left out of everything involving everyone than to participate with people, which is just how weeds are left alone only to grow more and ruin things. People who keep nice lawns don’t want ugly weeds polluting their lawn. They wouldn’t feel any happier for their lawn but to get rid of those weeds. Being a weed would be the perfect way of exclusion from people.

Mama’s immense love for this potted plant is evident throughout the text, however, it is exemplified when she tells Ruth, “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one… Lord, ain’t nothing as dreary as the view from this window on a dreary day, is there?” (I.i.53). When Mama was younger and more hopeful she had dreams of making something of her own with her husband and family; over time she starts to see this as impossible instead of something that can be achieved. The plant symbolizes how even though her dreams faded, she still hangs on to them as a reminder of her hope for the future and for her family.

The short story, “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, is based on a farmer’s lonely wife, Elisa Allen, who hides her femininity and disappointments of her marriage by tending to her beautiful garden of chrysanthemums. Since her garden is her pride and joy, John Steinbeck made Elisa’s chrysanthemums the most important aspect of the story. The chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa as a woman- her femininity, her happiness, her sexuality, and her desire to be wanted.

The author uses excellent imagery throughout the story allowing the reader to comprehend and paint a picture in their head more clearly. But another essential figurative device she uses is a metaphor. The author states that she

As humans, we understand complex issues based on the ability to relate certain scenarios to a familiar and real life situation. A metaphor compares

The speaker starts to use phrases such as “domestic and weak” (line 13) and “small and cozy” (line 12) which starts to give the impression that the tree is likely symbolic of a woman that is being suppressed by a gardener, or man, in her life. This set of lines begins to show how men tend to take a woman’s true identity and shape them into what makes them happy, rather than letting them grow. It also shows how society tends to think of women as being small, cozy, domestic, weak, etc. instead of letting them make their own identities and create their own lives. Men, in the time that this was written, had a very strong idea that they had to be the breadwinners of the household and make the woman be entirely dependent on the man. This is just like what has happened to the bonsai; now that it has been stripped of it’s identity if it were to go out and try to fend for itself being nine inches high; it would not have a chance of surviving.