"To Puerto Rico (I return)" by José Gautier Benítez

"Forgive the exile

This sweet frenzy:

I return to my beloved world,

In love with the land where I was born."

- from "To Puerto Rico (I Return)," by José Gautier Benítez

Analysis: Even though this poem is very short and to the point, there is much that I can relate to. "I return to my beloved world," is one of my favorite quotes. It reminds us that we must never forget our roots as well as who we are. I really enjoy that the word "world" was used rather than place, location, or something else. Using the word "world" gives the poem an even greater effect upon the reader, that being if the reader has another place beyond their current location that they can call home. For me, it reminds me of the differences between Mexico and the beautiful United States of America. The food, the culture, and even personalities are immensely different. Stereotypes may be placed on both countries, but it is not until one personally visits the place that we truly learn and are socked with its riches, such as culture and tradition. 
"In love with the land where I was born." Its description is self-evident. One may never forget where we came from and what we are because of it. I can relate to this in that when coming to the United States, people's perspectives, emphasis on students, was entirely different than that of many of my colleges in Mexico. One of the greatest examples is the differences in mindsets relating to success. In Mexico, success is being able to finish a career and have the ability to obtain a state household. In contrast, here in the United States, success is defined by two mayor things: the amount of money you have been able to make as well the career you took. I was born in the United States, but I have come to root myself with Mexican culture, something that will never die within me.  

How things work by Gary Soto

How Things Work

BY GARY SOTO

Today it’s going to cost us twenty dollars

To live. Five for a softball. Four for a book,

A handful of ones for coffee and two sweet rolls,

Bus fare, rosin for your mother’s violin.

We’re completing our task. The tip I left

For the waitress filters down

Like rain, wetting the new roots of a child

Perhaps, a belligerent cat that won’t let go

Of a balled sock until there’s chicken to eat.

As far as I can tell, daughter, it works like this:

You buy bread from a grocery, a bag of apples

From a fruit stand, and what coins

Are passed on helps others buy pencils, glue,

Tickets to a movie in which laughter

Is thrown into their faces.

If we buy a goldfish, someone tries on a hat.

If we buy crayons, someone walks home with a broom.

A tip, a small purchase here and there,

And things just keep going. I guess

Analysis: This poem may seem very simplistic, but if we use our knowledge of life, history, and a little imagination, the theme is huge. At fist glance we come to see the speaker of the poem talking to his daughter about the way society works. You spend money and that money that you spent will be spent by someone else. The Secretary of Treasury stated: "The money that you currently own, belongs to someone else who is waiting to pay another person." That is an overview of it. Now if we take into account this cycle that he talks about, in reference to money, we as the reader and thus interpreter must find the true meaning of this cycle. I personally believe that in every piece of written literature the author is placing a hidden message which he/she leaves it to the reader to find. My interpretation of the cycle goes as follows: The cycle of money may seem endless, but it has an ending. It may end up in the trash, literary, or it may be ripped and thus ending its cycle. Just as the money's cycle must end, so must a human cycle: life. For every person that dies, four are born.

 "A belligerent cat that won’t let go of a balled sock until there’s chicken to eat." I found a special interest in this quote. The cat represents a person, the sock that is "balled" represents society, and the chicken represents a higher standing member of society. The cat could be anyone we consider evil: a banker, a landowner, even the devil. He never lets go and continues to oppress its victims who are the common members of society, or the balled sock. The chicken, who becomes the distraction is a prestigious member of society to whom the cat can take advantage of. The main theme being: Social Darwinism. We consider ourselves to live in a civilized society, but why is that. Because we have a "structure?"Perhaps because we have an economic currency? What is the real definition of civilized, since the word and definition was created by a "civilized" member of society. The answers can be found within one's interpretation of society. And just as Soto commented, "...things just keep going. I guess."

Eldorado analisis

Eldorado

                   Gaily bedight,
                   A gallant knight,
               In sunshine and in shadow,
                   Had journeyed long,
                   Singing a song,
               In search of Eldorado.

                   But he grew old-
                   This knight so bold-
               And o'er his heart a shadow
                   Fell as he found
                   No spot of ground
               That looked like Eldorado.

                   And, as his strength
                   Failed him at length,
               He met a pilgrim shadow-
                   "Shadow," said he,
                   "Where can it be-
               This land of Eldorado?"

                   "Over the Mountains
                   Of the Moon,
               Down the Valley of the Shadow,
                   Ride, boldly ride,"
                   The shade replied-
               "If you seek for Eldorado!"

Analysis: The theme of the poem can be interpreted in many different ways. From my perspective, I was able to find a quest in this poem. The quest is in search for happiness, in this case- El Dorado. For those who do not know the legend, El Dorado is a "place" ruled by the natives who had an abundance of gold. The quality of living is said to have been the best, a stable society, and a well rounded economy. In some ways it can be compared to the legend of Atlantis. Then one day, El Dorado disappeared. When the Spanish first came to America it is said to have been for one reason other than finding a way to the other side of the world to make business with the Indians or  Chinese: it was to find the lost city of El Dorado. 

Here  in the poem, we are presented to a knight who is in search of the city. We are told that he wasted years finding the lost city, grew old and his strength "failed him at length." And then one day he found a character who is named: "Shadow." This "shadow" tells the knight that in order to find El Dorado, he must go "down the valley of the shadow." This shadow can come to represent grief and despare, just as light represents happiness and purity. When we tie everything together, I come to the conclusion that Edger Allen Poe is telling us that in order to find true happiness, we must first suffer and learn from our mistake in order to find out that "true happiness" does not exist. Just as El Dorado, True happiness will never be found. People imagine that we will all reach the point were we are happy and there is no problems in our life. Such as climbing the ladder to the top, in life there is no end. Poe tells us that we must be happy with what he have and never get disappointing when he fall.