Martin Espadas Poem Bully and Judith Ortiz Cofers Poem Latin Women Pray - Literature review Example

 The poem “Bully” by Martin Espada is filled with an intricate usage of irony and symbolism stemming from its title, which gives a rough description of the contents. The title forms the clue to the message contained in the poem as the word suggests an unfair situation and a sought of mismatch between a powerful party taking undue advantage of a weaker opponent. Martin Espada, the poet, is of Latino origin and strong political activists and this gives an insight to the direction taken by this unique piece, the bully.

On the other hand, the poem “Latin women pray” written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is another example of an irony-ridden poem. The poem’s title symbolically portrays the deep religious heritage of Latin women and is a description of the contents of the poem just as was amplified by Espada’s title. Just like her counterpart, Ortiz has Latino origins and her works can be classified as pieces of activism not only for political but for social change. Thesis statementThe two poems by Ortiz and Espada are viewed as discussing on fundamentally different issues, but a closer interrogation depicts several similarities in terms of literal skills employed and the deeper objective.

The two poems focus on the negative effects and changes inflicted to the Latino society by American retrogressive dominance over some of the nations. The messages are passed through the imaginative use of the bully and on the other hand by the unanswered prayers of Latino women.Comparative Analysis of the two poemsThe “bully” is set up in a school that is predominantly attended by Latino student and it nears the statue of Theodore Roosevelt. In the first four lines the poet says, “In the school auditorium, the Theodore Roosevelt statue is nostalgic for the Spanish-American war…” (Lines, 1-4).

The first lines open up the discussion on the symbolism of the statue in the middle of the school. It is a representative of the war waged by Roosevelt against Cubans at the time of the war. The statue is ironically located in a school whose students are large of Spanish origin. The war he waged against the Spanish was successful one of the factors attributed to the school being named after him as a symbol of honor. The poem “Latin women pray” on the other hand, opens with the description of the activities pursued by Latin women.

“…In incense sweet churches…They pray in Spanish to an Anglo God…with a Jewish heritage…” (Lines, 1-4). The first four lines are a description of the deeply religious culture observed by Latino women. The setting of the poem is in a Latin community that has several churches used as the places of worship by Latino women. The sweet incense burnt in churches represents the purity and sanctity of the church. However, the poet distances herself from the culture by the use of the third person “they” symbolically to criticize some of the religious practices.

There is an irony in the comparison of the God worshipped by the Latino women as having a Jewish Heritage. The church is used as a symbol of the religion of Latino women just like the Roosevelt statue is a symbol for the war waged by Americans against the Spanish. The introduction of Theodore Roosevelt in the second line of the poem is significant to the title of the poem.