Analysis Of How Things Work By Gary Soto

Gary Soto is an American poet who grew up in a Mexican American household and community. Soto wrote his poems mainly about his daily life and experiences. How Things Work is told in the first person. Soto uses Personal pronouns such as, I, we, you, us, and your to show this. The Audience of the poem was Soto’s daughter. Soto is telling his daughter how things work in life in the poem, and that is where he gets the title, How Things Work.
The tone in, How Things Work, is routine, it is just another day of spending money in order to survive. Soto used rhetorical strategies in How Things Work. There is a small amount of alliteration “Five for a softball. Four for a book”(How Things Work -Gary Soto), some similes, “The tip I left For the waitress

filters down Like rain” (How Things Work -Gary Soto), and a hyperbole, “Today it's going to cost us twenty dollars To live”(How Things Work -Gary Soto). Soto’s poem, How Things Work, is about how money connects us all. Nothing is free and everything comes at a cost so money is constantly changing hands. This poem is about consumerism and its benefits to society.
Gary Soto is a famous American born Latino poet who would write about his daily experiences. In his poem, How Things Work, he teaches his
daughter about how things work and how money is at the center of everything. Money is what connects everyone. Living is not free because everything

necessary to survive comes at a cost, maybe with the exception of breathing.