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¶ … Lower East Side Poem" by Pinero
I agree that when teaching a poetry class, it is necessary to include instruction about the poet's historical and social context for a student to fully appreciate the poet's output. Of course, there is value in simply responding to a poem in an instinctual fashion. However, it is important that students realize that their gut response is not the only way to understand the poem, and that poems have multiple interpretations. These interpretations will change and shift over time, but it is vital to comprehend what the first likely inspiration was for the poetry. I love the metaphor of the poet 'ingesting' the larger world, and then using this 'food' to create the poem.
Poetry has also changed in terms of its significance over the eras. In the early age of epic poetry, poems were supposed to speak about the myths shared by an entire populace. In today's more individualistic climate, poems are seen as vehicles of personal self-expression. However, even in contemporary society, poems show evidence of the poet's desire to connect personal expressions to a larger consciousness. "A Lower East Side Poem" by Pinero contains personal reflections by the poet, but it is clearly located in a specific place and time and the reader can gain a greater appreciation of Pinero's project as a poet by analyzing the context that inspired the work.
I believe that a great poem is both of its time and timeless. Great poetry is specific and does not dwell on vague, trite cliches. It forces the reader to look at the world in an entirely different way. It uses clear details and forms of expression that will inevitably be 'of its time.' However, the timelessness is rooted in the fact that these forms of expression are so powerful the reader can be transported to another world and see the connections between that world and his or her own.
poetic turn:' "Lower east side poem" The 'poetic turn' is the moment in which a poem takes the reader by surprise and fundamentally shifts the reader's perspective of the poem. This is seen in Miguel Pinero's "Lower east side poem" which takes a conventional poetic subject -- death and life after death -- and celebrates the poet's desire to embrace seemingly negative and immoral aspects of New York City. Instead
Pat Mora -- "Curandera" and "Immigrants" -- are quite different and yet they both express the what it's like to be Latina and they detail experiences that are unique to Latinas in America. "Curandera": A curandera is a woman of Latina ethnicity who practices folk medicine. In the poem, the curandera has bonded and her life has progressed with and is dependent upon nature -- the desert -- even though
nature of the poetic turn, the structural component of a poem, which may occur multiple times in a poem, in which your expectations are upended or displaced, in which you are surprised or affected by the direction the poet is taking. What is the purpose of the turn and how is it accomplished? Why is it an important part of a contemporary poem and how does it function particularly
stand proud as you can see, I've survived and thrived and lived Sometimes I have erred but other times I did succeed I've reached a level in my life where there is less want and need There are good memories behind me and many sad ones too Things that I've regretted and moments I stood tall A life is made of both, harshest times and all Everyone I think of had issues just like mine Maybe
Lower Eastside Poem" - analysis The poetic turn is largely meant to provide audiences with the feeling that the speaker experiences an inner conflict and wants to project it onto listeners. It is practically as if he or she would want audiences to gain a more complex understanding concerning the ideas that he or she is referring to in addition to simply appreciating the concepts the poem describes. Miguel Pinero's