Hunger In New York City By Simon Ortiz
Hunger In New York City By Simon Ortiz Joshua Dow Apriyana Shackelford Wendy De Paz Jennifer Navarro Period: 2 9/25/15 English lit. Mr. Berkowitz
Hunger In New York City By: Simon Ortiz Hunger crawls into you from somewhere out of your muscles or the concrete or the land or the wind pushing you. It comes to you, asking 5 for food, words, wisdom, young memories of places you ate at, drank cold spring water, or held somebody’s hand, or home of the gentle, slow dances, the songs, the strong gods, the world 10 you know. That is, hunger searches you out. It always asks you, How are you, son? Where are you? Have you eaten well? 15 Have you done what you as a person of our people is supposed to do? And the concrete of this city, the oily wind, the blazing windows, the shrieks of automation cannot, 20 truly cannot, answer for that hunger although I have hungered, truthfully and honestly, for them to feed myself with. So I sang to myself quietly: 25 I am feeding myself with the humble presence of all around me; I am feeding myself with your soul, my mother earth; 30 make me cool and humble. Bless me.
The First Stanza • This poem begins with the origin of hunger. Going back to the author hunger comes “from somewhere out of your muscles, or concrete or the land, or the wind pushing you. ” • Hunger is a slow process that builds and creates an increasingly noticeable sensation. • Ortiz observes that the origin of hunger comes from something deep inside you from “out of your muscles”. • This links to ortiz’s background from the Acoma Peublo culture that he is so passionately attached to. • They are an ancient culture that have been preserved from one generation to the next. • Ive also noticed in Line 1 he uses personification.
Second Stanza • The second stanza explains that hunger asks not only for food, but for “words, wisdom, young memories, of places you ate at, drank cold spring water, or held somebody's hand, or home of the gentle, slow dances, the songs the strong gods the world you know. ” • These words that are expressed for hunger, hes trying to explain that these are things needed as they are listed equally not one above the other and interchangeably with food which is important for our body. • He remarks that hunger searches you out as if to find you and remind you of its presence.
Second Stanza • The questions that hunger poses in the poem, are like questions that a family member or grandma would ask over a long distance call. “How are you son? Where are you? Have you eaten well? Have you done what you as one of our people is supposed to do? ” • These questions make it obvious that he is craving something much more than hunger. • The personified hunger he has or is describing is a deep longing for his homeland created by his presence in the harsh and weird enviorment of new york city.
Third Stanza • • • Line 4 is a quatrain stanza enjambment. Line 7 has septet enjambment. Line 6 has sestet caesura and enjambment. Line 1 has septet enjambment. Line 8 has octet (octave) enjambment.
Fourth Stanza • Ortiz depicts New York City and explains that his hunger cannot truly be satisfied by what the city has to offer. • The savage image of concrete, bright lights, polluted air, and noise that leads him to realization that he cannot live there. • In line 12 he seems to use symbolism as if it's a family relative symbolizing that hunger is a personal thing.
Brief Quiz • • • Why does the author dislike New York? What is the origin of this poem? What type of hunger is the author longing for? Where did he receive a Masters of Fine Art Degree? What Year? Other than food what does hunger ask for? What is line #7? What type of questions does hunger oppose in the poem? What is Line 8? What type of theme is in line 1? What type of theme is line 12?
- Slides: 9
