Gary Soto's In Where Sparrows Work Hard

Gary Soto is a Latino-American poet and author. He has written countless poems and endless novels. According to Critical Survey of Poems, ¨Soto’s work, especially his early poems, focuses primarily on this personal history. Although he never mentions it in his poems, Soto does have an impressive academic background: He was graduated magna cum laude from California State University at Fresno (1974), received a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of California at Irvine (1976), and has taught at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of English and Chicano Studies. He has also been Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. Soto married Carolyn Oda, …show more content…
Critical Survey of Poetry summarizes, ”In Where Sparrows Work Hard, Soto returns to familiar sights: the neighborhood, the tire factory, the fields, and family. As this book progresses, however, there are some happy, sometimes comic moments that relieve the despair.” In this story, Soto includes visions of his past into the setting and characters. Such as, where he and his family used to work, and where they lived. In his poem collection, Home Course in Religion, Soto revisits the terrifying memories of his step-father. “In contrast to the imaginative re-creations of his father, who died before Soto really knew him, the evocations of his stepfather are hauntingly realistic, almost naturalistic. The father is associated with his La-Z-Boy recliner, his Jack Daniels, his racism, and the “pounding of fists that pounded boxes all day.” Soto’s opinion of his stepfather, and his feelings toward his father’s death were his inspiration for his poem collection, Home Course in Religion. In one of his most famous poems, Black Hair, Soto repeats themes throughout the story relating to his childhood. Supporting this, Critical Survey of Poetry states, “Black Hair examines familiar themes. There is the sense of resignation and bitterness that Soto feels when he recalls his early farm-worker experiences: “Work in dust, get up in dust. Beer makes it go.” As Soto continues to write, his stories gradually become more entertaining as he incorporates more details about his past. In many of Soto’s writings, he includes a glossary of spanish terms defining the various spanish phrases he uses throughout the story. He uses spanish terms in his poems to express his feelings, revise the story’s overall message, develop his characters, and to show symbolism. He does this in many stories, such as, Chato Throws a Pachanga, My Little Car, Chato’s Kitchen, The Afterlife, If The