Discourse Analysis of “Black Hair” by Gary Soto
Background and General Themes
- The author of the text is no other than Gary Soto, a straight Mexican American or Chicano male that was 33 years old at the time of the text.
- The author’s works focus on daily experiences, more likely than not reflecting on his life as a chicano, and this piece is in line with his other works.
- The piece is autobiographical, and as such, it is partly or entirely based on true events the author has experienced.
- The title is about a simple object, Black Hair, and makes us think about tire dust and what it symbolizes, which is in the context of the text, hard work.
- The point of view is first person as it is an autobiographical piece.
- The author constantly …show more content…
- In the first sentence of the fifteenth paragraph, the text reads “I was seventeen, stupid because I couldn't figure out the difference between an F 78 14 and 750 14 at sight.” The way it is phrased implicitly states that the “seventeen and stupid” part is voiced by someone else rather than the main character’s thoughts of himself.
- In the eighteenth paragraph, the usage of word “nursing” for the act of sucking on the Coke bottle seems to imply a childish defenselessness, a lack of the protection of a mother, given that the main character has been kicked out of his house by his parents in the ninth paragraph.
- The Spanish word “mentiras” is used in the second to last sentence in the eighteenth paragraph, which is the plural form of the noun “lie”. This choice of word is most likely due to the ones telling stories of how they dealt with the police being Mexican as well as most of those listening, in order to give a slice of the conversation to the reader in its purest …show more content…
- On the second to last sentence of the twenty-first paragraph, and especially in the part that says “a face that said ‘promise, college, & nice clothes in the closet.’ ” the quotation marks imply that the main character know – maybe envies the modern motif of the succesful child of a happy family, given how he himself is far from it.
- “You be too young, boy. A woman can make you a god.” In the given sentence from the twenty-fifth paragraph, the fact that “be” is used as a proper verb rather than its auxiliary form in Hamp’s speech gives us an idea about him.
- The word “junking” in the second sentence of twenty-eighth paragraph gives off the feeling that Iggy’s words while doing his job is tied to his character.
- The narrative changes more to a manner of speech, a retelling of experience on the last paragraph past the second
Background and General Themes
- The author of the text is no other than Gary Soto, a straight Mexican American or Chicano male that was 33 years old at the time of the text.
- The author’s works focus on daily experiences, more likely than not reflecting on his life as a chicano, and this piece is in line with his other works.
- The piece is autobiographical, and as such, it is partly or entirely based on true events the author has experienced.
- The title is about a simple object, Black Hair, and makes us think about tire dust and what it symbolizes, which is in the context of the text, hard work.
- The point of view is first person as it is an autobiographical piece.
- The author constantly …show more content…
- In the first sentence of the fifteenth paragraph, the text reads “I was seventeen, stupid because I couldn't figure out the difference between an F 78 14 and 750 14 at sight.” The way it is phrased implicitly states that the “seventeen and stupid” part is voiced by someone else rather than the main character’s thoughts of himself.
- In the eighteenth paragraph, the usage of word “nursing” for the act of sucking on the Coke bottle seems to imply a childish defenselessness, a lack of the protection of a mother, given that the main character has been kicked out of his house by his parents in the ninth paragraph.
- The Spanish word “mentiras” is used in the second to last sentence in the eighteenth paragraph, which is the plural form of the noun “lie”. This choice of word is most likely due to the ones telling stories of how they dealt with the police being Mexican as well as most of those listening, in order to give a slice of the conversation to the reader in its purest …show more content…
- On the second to last sentence of the twenty-first paragraph, and especially in the part that says “a face that said ‘promise, college, & nice clothes in the closet.’ ” the quotation marks imply that the main character know – maybe envies the modern motif of the succesful child of a happy family, given how he himself is far from it.
- “You be too young, boy. A woman can make you a god.” In the given sentence from the twenty-fifth paragraph, the fact that “be” is used as a proper verb rather than its auxiliary form in Hamp’s speech gives us an idea about him.
- The word “junking” in the second sentence of twenty-eighth paragraph gives off the feeling that Iggy’s words while doing his job is tied to his character.
- The narrative changes more to a manner of speech, a retelling of experience on the last paragraph past the second