Reading No. 6 Poems " To live in the borderlands" and "Mexican Is Not a Noun"



Gloria Anzaldúa




Title: To live in the borderlands



Author: Gloria Anzaldúa


Date: 1987


Setting (time and place):  The borderlands; specifically, in the border between Mexico and the United States.




Event (conflict, important information, touching passage, question): The main conflict in this poem is the lack of identity that people in the borderlands live. Since it is a very multicultural place, the mixture of cultures makes it difficult to believe that one belongs to a specific group or culture.



Characters:


There is not a specific character, but it refers in general to the people who live in the borderlands. 

Memorable quote / favorite part: "To live in the Borderlands means knowing that the India in you, betrayed for 500 years, is no longer speaking to you, that Mexicans call you rajetas, that denying the Anglo inside you is as bad as having denied the Indian or Black...


How did it make me feel? / can I make any connection to my life?


Well, it is nice to know that there are places in which a variety of cultures coexist. Though you can always see something good in everything, anything is perfect. It is kind of disappointing that living in those places people feel like they don't have an identity. They feel like they do not belong to the US nor to Mexico, but they shouldn't be blamed because of that. This phenomenon not only happens with culture but also with aspects such as sexuality as it has been witnessed recently. I would say that the problem is the lack of information. Many people tend to judge without knowing the reality in which this people live. 








Francisco X. Alarcón



Title: "Mexican" is Not a Noun


Author: Francisco X. Alarcón


Date: 2002


Setting (time and place):  There is not mention of time or place in this poem.




Event (conflict, important information, touching passage, question): This poem is referring to how Mexican people is discriminated in the US. Most of them feel like they are being treated as objects, so the poem is criticizing this situation. 



Characters:

There is not a specific character, but the poem refers to Mexican people. 

Memorable quote / favorite part: "it moves / it strikes / it burns / just like / a verb."

How did it make me feel? / can I make any connection to my life?

The problem of discrimination against Mexican people has existed for long time. this poem is a very romantic way to complain about this issue. Again, I have always believed that discrimination is a matter of education, and thinking about my current situation, I as future teacher have a big responsibility which is to teach people and make them realize that problems such as discrimination shouldn' t be part of our society.





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