English 101: Analysis of Anzaldua and Rushkin's Poems on Identity

This assignment is a student's response to a hypothetical English 102 paper prompt, which asks for a close reading comparing poems by Gloria Anzaldúa and Kate Rushin. The student outlines their approach to the assignment, detailing how they would analyze the poems, start the writing process, formulate claims supported by textual evidence, and develop an initial thesis statement. The assignment emphasizes the skills and strategies learned in English 101, such as textual analysis, identifying key themes, and constructing arguments. The student references the poems "To Live in the Borderlands Means You" and "The Bridge Poem" and discusses the challenges and the power of living between multiple identities or cultures. The student provides an overview of the poems' content and the importance of understanding the poems for the reader. The solution also includes a reference list.

Running head: EVALUATION AND REFELECTION
Evaluation and Reflection
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
Comparison of the Poems of Gloria Anzaldua and Kate Rushkin
Gloria Anzaldua is considered to be one of the great poets in the history of the
American literature in the country itself. Her poem, “To Live in the Borderlands Means You”
refers to the problems about the race and castes which were prevalent in the society at that
time itself. Kate Rushkin is also considered to be one of the greatest poets in the country of
the United States of America itself. Both of these author’s poems deals with the subject of
living in between the various identities as well as the cultures present in the society at the
time the poems were written by the poets themselves.
To understands how the poems relate to the concept of living between then various
cultures, I feel that it is first necessary to understand what each author in the poem had stated
in depth. This step, I believe can be achieved by the process of the systematic following of
the various meanings and the statements which both the authors had obviously mentioned in
their poems itself (Leckie, 2013). I found that both the poets in the article itself had informed
the readers about how it feels to be living among various cultures and groups in the society.
To make the comparison, I feel tat it is important for the reader to understand each of the
poems first and to find out what the lies of the poem states about the poem itself to the
readers themselves (Schroer, 2013)

1EVALUATION AND REFLECTION
“To live in the borderlands means you
are neither hispana india negra espanola
ni gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, half-breed
caught in the crossfire between camps
while carrying all five races on your back
not knowing which side to turn to, run from”
These lines from the poem by Gloria Anzaldua helps me to understand the underlying
message of the poem and what the author wants to talk about to the readers of the poem itself.
Similarly, I feel the urge to state the fact that the poem by Kate Rushkin gains similar
exposure as it gains similar reorganization (Perales, 2013). It held the audiebnce in the [poem
“explain my mother to my father
my father to my little sister
My little sister to my brother
my brother to the white feminists
The white feminists to the Black church folks
the Black church folks to the ex-hippies
the ex-hippies to the Black separatists
the Black separatists to the artists
the artists to my friends’ parents…”
Thus, from both the poem itself, the necessity of the task is understood. Now, the task
is important because the audience has to rise the poem to make sure that they understand
what the poem is asking for.
To do that, the individuals will have to research on the lines of the poem to males sure
that they had understood the poem very well for the reader themselves. Finally, the thesis

2EVALUATION AND REFLECTION
statement, which the reader had been used in the poem, is the basis of understanding of the
lines of the poem itself (Yarbro-Bejarano, 2017).
From the above discussions, the facts can be concluded that both the poets have
described the various important bits of information, which the reader can use in a number of
ways. The conclusion of the poem therefore helps the audience about the subject matter of the
poem itself and the various ways in which the concept of the poem can be made equal so that
the people of the country can equally enjoy such poems, both for themselves and as well as
for their readers and the users of the poem as well.

3EVALUATION AND REFLECTION
Reference List
Leckie, K. (2013). Nature, Identity, and Disaster: Prehistoric Lake Dwelling in Central
Europe. Humans and the Environment: New Archaeological Perspectives for the
Twenty-First Century, 213.
Perales, M. (2013). On borderlands/la frontera: gloria anzaldúa and twenty-five years of
research on gender in the borderlands. Journal of Women's History, 25(4), 163-173.
Schroer, J. W. (2013). The terrifying tale of the philosophical mammy. The Black Scholar,
43(4), 101-107.
Yarbro-Bejarano, Y. (2017). Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera: Cultural
Studies,‘Difference’, and the Non-Unitary Subject. In Contemporary American
Women Writers (pp. 11-31). Routledge.