Analysis Of Jimmy Santiago Baca's Coming Into The Language

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"Suddenly, through language, through writing, my grief and my joy could be shared with anyone who would listen." Coming into the language by Jimmy Santiago Baca writes a personal piece on his experience in a different area for him and how he felt. He felt targeted and ridiculed,because when people asked him questions he felt the hang rope tighten around his neck and the trapdoor creak. He also felt humiliated, intimidated and vulnerable because he was not able to express himself . As he was in jail and had nothing better to do he stole a book and because his interest grew vastly he then came onto writing, which is what he liked best, and he expressed his pain through the writing. Reading and writing can have a different and major effect on …show more content…

He talks about his experience as a target and how he knew everyone looked at him and also talks about the embarrassment and repetitiveness he had towards his fellow community because he felt prejudiced and on edge because he didn’t know what would happen to him. Then when he was in jail, he starts to read a book and likes it, but that lead to his “new found hobby” writing poetry, he says “he had a place to stand for the first time in his life”. Meaning that through his writing, he could finally feel safe, judgement free. Which gave him the confidence to write poetry, by feeling redemption from his past experience of school and when he felt like an outsider. “He also says through language I was free”. Showing the reader automatically he felt free for a reason suggesting his early to teen years he felt more than uncomfortable he felt not safe or trapped by the society he lived …show more content…

He also he finds peace and remembers only his good memories to make himself anew and to finally let himself be. Once he let his rebirth happen, he felt a part of him that was missing that couldn’t have been found before. I think Baca’s article talks about the different experiences a Chicano had in a different country or land. He felt like a victim of social prejudice and pondered when he was little and didn’t do well in school. I think his past experiences do have a key in his perspective and attitude towards the people he later felt targeted by but, just as it affected him in a negative way it affected him in a positive way as well. Negative because of the put downs he’s had in the past which pushed him down, to not be motivated to learn the most basic things like reading and writing. Baca did have a terrifying or troublesome pasts, but once HE reached out it lead him to the one thing he would turn out to love. This article mostly shows Baca’s underdog story and to most it's relatable or easy to identify, making this a story about the struggle to interest then lead to life

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