"Coming Into Language": Analysis of Jimmy Santiago Baca's Poetry
Poetry can affect our lives because the author shares with us his experience or thoughts through his work. In this "Jimmy Santiago Baca's Poetry "Coming Into Language" Analysis" paper, we will go into more detail about the biography of the author, his poetry, and how it influenced me.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico to a very difficult life. He spent his younger life in an orphanage after being abandoned by his parents and proceeded to run away at thirteen years old (poetryfoundation.org). His life was just beginning, and he was already on the wrong path, which led to him serving jail time for drug possession (poetryfoundation.org). This kind of neglect meant he did not receive much of an education, if any, therefore he was unable to read and write. Baca spent around six years in prison (1973-1979) and eventually became self-taught literate (poets.org). During the 1970s Mexicans made up the majority of illegal immigrants in this country (Ebeling). If they were sent back to Mexico, they would be unemployed without any financial government help (Ebeling). Which meant many of them fought to stay in America by any means necessary.
This was the time when Mexicans began to be stereotyped as drug dealers and various other crimes. Baca began writing poetry which became his emotional outlet and allowed him to openly express himself. “Coming Into Language” spoke about the many hardships Baca faced in his life. He discusses his first job, the time he spent in jail and his journey of learning to read and write. Prior to reading and writing, Baca had no way of expressing himself and would most likely have kept his feelings bottled up. Baca and I agree that self-expression is important for everyone. I chose to focus my writing on this text because I believe my personal experience best relates to the central argument of “Coming Into Language.” I do not support his belief that writing is the best method of expression, but Jimmy Baca argued that expression is important no matter what you are going through.
Personally, as someone who is not artistically inclined, I look to verbal expression, as opposed to Jimmy Baca who looked to poetry and other forms of writing. Being an only child led me to be very quiet because I had no one close to my age to interact with. I can vividly remember a specific instance in elementary school during lunch. All of my classmates were talking about the movie we had watched in class and I was just listening, not a single word came out of my mouth. This was not because I did not understand the movie or was not intelligent enough to contribute to the discussion but simply because I felt that I did not belong in their conversation and was worried about them judging what I had to say.
Most of the time I went unnoticed and I was very content with things being that way but not this time. I felt so uncomfortable in my surroundings and realized I could not be this way anymore. As I thought about this feeling, I realized my mother has a very friendly, outspoken, outgoing personality, quite the opposite of mine. I decided I wanted to be just like her and I was willing to give it a try. As I started a new school year, I “reinvented” myself by making more friends and going out a little more. I realized that my younger self was so quiet and timid because I did not know how to express myself and was worried about people judging me. I reminded myself that everyone will have their own opinions of me, but as long as I made myself happy, it did not matter what they thought. Baca did the same when it came to his writing, he did not hold back any ideas, thoughts or emotions in fear of what people would say about him. I am glad that I learned how to express myself in a positive way. If I had not learned to be this person, I would have missed out on so many opportunities and friendships.
Similarly, to my experience, Baca went through, more or less, the same stages of self-expression as I did. Baca tried to avoid reading as much as possible, he even said he found it to be a “waste of time,” (Baca). However, when he began he could not stop. In my situation, I constantly avoided confrontation but after breaking out of my shell, I learned to be who I am. I was further able to relate to Baca when he made the decision to educate himself. He realized it was time to make a change to benefit himself in the same way I chose to become more outgoing. I also mentioned that if I had not learned to express myself, I would have passed up on many of life’s experiences without even realizing it. This relates to Baca because without learning to read and write, he would have never found his true calling in life and would have missed out on something he enjoys very much.
Pathos is one of the rhetorical devices used in “Coming Into Language” to convince readers to see the story from his point of view. A rhetorical device is used in writing to convey some kind of emotion or persuasion in the audience. Baca says, “But soon the heartache of having missed so much of life, that had numbed me since I was a child, gave way, as if a grave illness lifted itself from me and I was cured, innocently believing in the beauty of life again.” (Baca 6). Baca’s usage of the words “heartache,” “numbed,” and “cured” are meant to make the readers feel sentimental. Baca wants his audience to sympathize with him, however I do not fully conform to this emotion because writing does not have this effect on me. All in all, this quote demonstrates how reading mentally transports Baca and helps him forget that he is still in jail, making the readers feel empathetic to his situation.
Baca later writes, “Through language I was free. I could respond, escape, indulge; embrace or reject earth or the cosmos.” (Baca ). His goal with this statement is to bring forth sympathy through carefully selecting words such as, “free,” “escape,” “indulge,” and “embrace.” These are all words that represent discovering and expressing yourself, which is something all readers can and want to relate to. Though Baca says “language” makes him feel free, he is referring specifically to writing and excludes all other forms of language expression. However, as a whole this a great persuasive statement. Baca made a very wise choice in using pathos to engage his readers.Metaphors are a very prevalent rhetorical device used in this text. Baca compares his experiences and feelings to certain objects, so his readers will get a clear sense of what he was going through. One metaphor that stood out to me was, “But when at last I wrote my first words on the page, I felt an island rising beneath my feet like the back of a whale” (Baca ).
Baca was demonstrating how empowering and stable writing made him feel. By analyzing each part of this statement, each phrase gives significant meaning to the sentence as a whole. The word “first,” shows Baca’s achievement of being able to write. The phrase “rising beneath my feet like the back of a whale,” represents his newly found passion for writing. Baca explains that writing is his new outlet for expressing himself. However, his demeanor drastically changed because he says, “Before long I was frayed like a rope carrying too much weight, that suddenly snaps” (Baca 9). This is quite the opposite of the previously mentioned metaphor since he mentions a negative aspect of writing. In this statement, Baca explains how he spent all his time in his writing that it became unhealthy. He describes how he was unaware of the times of day when he wrote and that essentially drove him to forget who he was. Writing took away his identity and became his breaking point. This clearly demonstrates that writing is not the best method of self-expression. Baca became too consumed in his work and made him almost forget who he was.
Furthermore, Jimmy Baca’s intended audience for “Coming Into Language” were most likely uneducated, Hispanic males. Baca uses very simple, easy to understand vocabulary in his writing, which makes it less challenging to someone who was not taught to read at a high level. Baca is probably trying to reach out to people in the same situation he was once in as a young child. He came from a broken home in a lower-class society, therefore his intention is to inspire and teach those who may be going through what he already did. In the beginning of the text, Baca speaks of Chicano books and language which may bring some form of familiarity to his Hispanic readers.
To finalize, self-expression is crucial to everyone because it allows us to feel more confident in who we are and what we believe in. Jimmy Santiago Baca found writing to be his emotional outlet during the situations he was going through in life, similarly to me discovering verbal expression to be my own. Baca uses pathos and metaphors in “Coming Into Language” to engage his audience and allow them to feel what he is feeling. Though I do not agree with Baca’s belief that writing is the best form of self-expression, I do believe it is a very important one. Everyone will find their way to express themselves, some in more complex ways than others but as long as you discover it, you can get through anything.
