Bare Bones Essay examples -- Poetry Analysis

The poem â€Å"Sometimes the Words Are So Close,†(963) written by Julia Alvarez, discusses how words like a person can be stripped down and made uncomplicated. People are full of layers that surround them everyday. Each layer can be discarded one at a time, down to the bare essentials and in that space, people can be who they truly are. This is also where she explores her voice as a woman. Andrea Schaefer said, in reference to the â€Å"33† Sonnet collection, â€Å"...Alvarez further explores the themes of her voice taking flight and the powers of language to effect personal and political change. These poems more explicitly address her Dominican roots and her 'childhood in a dictatorship/ when real talk was punishable by death'...† During another interview, Alvarez stated; â€Å"...The page is where I learned to put together my different worlds, where I've put down the deepest roots...† Although born in New York, Alvarez lived in the Dominican Republic wi th her family for her first ten years. Unfortunately, they had to flee back to the United States as political exiles in 1960. On writing, Alvarez stated, â€Å"...Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word -- great training for a writer. I also discovered the welcoming world of the imagination and books...† Alvarez's poem addresses the two worlds she grew up in, the Dominican Republic and the United States and the differences of language in each. Through an implied metaphor, the speaker of the poem unveils herself, a line at a time, while simultaneously building upon the â€Å"figure†(7) of the poem to reveal at its core, a woman. â€Å"Words†(1) are often difficult to form into speech, especially when there is a barrier of translating what they mean as opposed to what they say.... ...Sienna M Potts: Siennese.com. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. . Alvarez, Julia. Andrea Schaefer. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, Supplement 7. Ed. Jay Parini. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. From Scribner Writers Series. 26 Mar. 2012. Alvarez, Julia. â€Å"Sometimes the Words Are So Close.† Meyers 963. Kevane, Bridget and Juanita Heredia. 'Julia Alvarez and Juanita Heredia. Latina Self-Portraits: Interviews with Contemporary Women Writers.† Ed. Citizen of the World: An Interview with Julia Alvarez. Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. p19-32. Rpt. In Hunter, Jeffrey W. â€Å"Contemporary Literary Criticism.† 274. Detroit: Gale. From Literature Resource Center. 26 Mar. 2012 Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 9th Ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2012. print.