Analysis of Gary Soto's Poetry - Essay Example

PoetryGary Soto was born in a Mexican-American life in 1952 in Fresno, California. Born in a middle class working family, Gary Soto had to struggle hard to find work for himself in his early life. The factories located in Fresno and the fields of San Joaquin were his working places when he was a young man. He was not an outstanding student at school from the beginning but his sheer love for poetry was eminent in his writings from the very beginning. He began admiring the works of Jules Verne, Emest Hemingway, Robert Frost, and John Steinbeck as his admirers.

When at Fresno City College and then California State University-Fresno, he had already begin to think and act like a poet and felt himself acquainted with literature. (Official Gary Soto Home Page , 2012). In 1947, when he earned BA from California State University-Fresno, his passion for poetry mounted towards the skies and he began to write poetry for his town. Fresno began working with the poet Philip Levine whose poetry on the working class of America inspired Soto amazingly. Soto’s poetry was also an inspiration of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, James Wright, Edward Field, and Pablo Neruda (most of them being Mexican-American and facing the casualties of working class which reflected in their poetry).

As a student, he started publishing his poems and began to win prizes as well. His first book, The Elements of San Joaquin was released in 1977 in which he painted the desolated picture of how Mexican American life is in central California. (Anaya, 2002) His inclination towards regional poetry and describing the bleak image of Mexican American was his bustle since beginning. His poems depict aggression of the urban life which exploits the life of rural labor, and how the purity of childhood is abused in these areas.

His vibrant expressions of urban life touched many people and so his second book, The Tale of Sunlight, also described the harsh life of Mexican American people. Most of Soto’s work was autobiographical analysis of his friends, family, smells, sights, and sounds. His poetry reflected photographic memories of ordinary instances such as tearing jelly-red sugariness from a Danish of foot-print size or just how his grandmother used to sip coffee. (Wilson, 1988) His poetry is snapshots of his childhood memories.

His childhood was spend in shreds in an indigent part of South Fresno, and his poetry, as he says, brings up the memories and past of his past life. He also wrote for children because he believed there were little or no collections of poetry for Mexican American kids in America and so their impediments should be highlighted. His aim was “to begin Chicanos reading” in America. He revived the culture of Mexican Americans through his work. He also wrote stories for children, such as Baseball which was published in 1990.

His stories too reflected the conditions of poor children in United States. He also uses Spanish phrases and expressions all across his work. (Poetry Foundation, 2010)Considering all the work by Soto, his collections are mainly based on his childhood and memory recollections and also incorporation of autobiographical events. His poetry is regional- based on the problems of a specific community in United States, which is the Mexican-American community He created reminiscent and vivid portraits of his topical themes of the district of Chicago- such as the discrimination and aggravation faced by Hispanics in America today.

His primary theme is contemporary Chicago state for Mexican Americans and is a critical analysis of their lives. The inadequate opportunities available to Hispanics in Chicago only (thus regional) are the focus of his poetry. As well as emphasizing on ethnicity and focusing on private apprehensiveness of people in Chicago state, he also highlighted universal issues in his poetry. His primary focus was regional poetry in which he did point the universal aspects of life as how poverty and destitute integrates into the life of people and influence them in a negative way.

Impoverishment and child labor is a universal issue that still prevails in a country like United States of America. When it becomes difficult for the people to afford college and university expenses, they sought to work long hours and it obscures their performance at education. (Encyclopedia of World Biographies)ReferencesPoetry Foundation. Gary Soto. Home: Poems and Poets: Biography: Gary Soto.2010. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gary-sotoOfficial Gary Soto Home Page May 20, 2012.

[ONLINE] Available at:http: // www.garysoto.com Anaya, Rudolfo. Gary Soto of the United States. World Literature Today .November 2002. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/NSK/Soto.htm Wilson, Etta. Gary Soto: A Mexican-American Voice that Speaks for All. May 1988. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bookpage.com/9805bp/gary_soto.html Encyclopedia of World Biographies. Gary Soto Biography. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/Soto-Gary.html#b