3_aramburo_adriana

Adriana Aramburo

Rhetoric

August 16, 2001

Like an Aguila!

Have you ever pondered how a person's ideas, thoughts and actions can influence another person and then a whole big country? Or how you can make a difference in a good or a bad way? Sometimes people let things pass that do not seem important in that instant, but after a minute, an hour, or a year realize they needed to take a risk to get what they wanted or complain of something unpleasant. Years, and experiences are the only things that will help us learn how to react effectively, to understand people's personalities and ours too, and why we act and respond the way we do to different situations. While we look for answers and find ways to respond to diverse situations or events, we must be like an "¡águila!" [eagle]. This is the title of a poem by Evangelina Vigil-Piñón, a short work that awakens the awareness of readers with its simple style, insight, and significance.

Elaine Dorough tells us, "Evangelina Vigil-Piñón is one of the first writers from the Chicano community to capture the essence of the barrio--its sounds, its rituals and its characters--from a perspective that transcends generational boundaries." Furthermore, her works have been characterized by a diversity of themes, mainly, common every day events in a community of Latin people. Her poems praise simple pleasure, celebrate the wisdom passed down by elders in the barrio, portray Hispanic culture, and show her relationship with nature. The poems often combine Spanish and English and accurately portray Hispanic dialogue, but their subjects are universal. A clear example of her work is "¡águila!" a poem that expresses the talent she is recognized for.

In a normal day, any common person can make the decision to continue, or not, with any process, work, or relationship, but it is not always easy to see what is in front of us or how it will effect our lives later. In the first lines of the poem, Vigil expresses how a person can let go of things and people without being aware of it:

one's sense of being

bounces

off things

and people. (1-4)

Personality is something easy to notice in other people, but usually we do not see our own. For us, everything could be fine, and our acts generally are perfectly right. But how many times do we let go of things, people or opportunities without noticing? An enlightened sense of being could make differences in our lives; the best thing we can do is to be aware of who we are and where we are.

The poem continues, "So then / one has to keep those eyes / bien truchas" (5-7). "Bien truchas" means to be aware, to be ready, to pay attention. Vigil uses this common Latin saying to encourage vision and awareness of what is going on in our surroundings: to not let opportunities or events pass, to see them and analyze them before reacting. Our sense of being could be inefficient in many situations, usually because emotions are involved at the time decisions have to be made. It is a heightened sense of reality that Vigil inspires in readers.

In the next lines Vigil writes in Spanish about experience and awareness:

es decir

ser

como aquel señor

que el otro dia vi

sentado en la plaza:

él solo y viejo

pero bien águila. (11-14)

A translation of Vigil's lines follow:

for example

like the man

that I saw the other day

sitting in the plaza:

alone and old

but like an eagle.

First, Vigil includes a social, common place for all Latin American people, a "plaza" or "plazuela," where usually many people gather in the afternoon after a day of work to talk about events. An old man, like an eagle, is sitting there by himself. This old man could be a symbol--interpreted as experience and knowledge, and the eagle as precision, awareness, or meticulousness. The eagle's personality, vision, and skill speak for themselves, and Vigil's choice to include this creature in the poem makes the point very clear. The next lines are, "he saw all / even his senility" (15, 16). Here, Vigil explains how he was looking at every little detail around him, how he was like an "águila," paying attention to every little move around him, and how he was even looking at those last years of life.

The mixing of languages could make the poem difficult to understand, but as Judith Richard says in her article, "Home Girls: Chicana Literary Voices," it would be difficult to stop this movement in Literature. Consequently, people that have grown and survived along the edges, along the borders of so many languages, worlds, and cultures relate to this kind of expression and its people. Words that express places, sounds and customs will always be a way of transportation to their natal country and customs. Vigil does it in this poem. People relate to it and at the same time explore and think about a universal message or thought.

Sources Cited

Dorough, Elaine. "Evangelina Vigil-Piñón." Gale Literary Databases 15 Aug. 2001

<http://galenet.galegroup.com/>.

Richards, Judith. "Home Girls: Chicana Literary Voices." College Literature 22 Mar. 1998.

15 Aug. 2001 <http://www.elibrary.com/>.

Vigil, Evangelina. "¡águila!" Handout. UTPA [Edinburg, TX]. 10 Aug. 2001.








			Adriana Aramburo Rhetoric August 16, 2001 Like an Aguila! Have you ever pondered how a person's ideas, thoughts and actions can influence another person and then a whole big country? Or how you can make a difference in a good or a bad way? Sometimes people let things pass that do not seem important in that instant, but after a minute, an hour, or a year realize they needed to take a risk to get what they wanted or complain of something unpleasant. Years, and experiences are the only things that will help us learn how to react effectively, to understand people's personalities and ours too, and why we act and respond the way we do to different situations. While we look for answers and find ways to respond to diverse situations or events, we must be like an "¡águila!" [eagle]. This is the title of a poem by Evangelina Vigil-Piñón, a short work that awakens the awareness of readers with its simple style, insight, and significance. Elaine Dorough tells us, "Evangelina Vigil-Piñón is one of the first writers from the Chicano community to capture the essence of the barrio--its sounds, its rituals and its characters--from a perspective that transcends generational boundaries." Furthermore, her works have been characterized by a diversity of themes, mainly, common every day events in a community of Latin people. Her poems praise simple pleasure, celebrate the wisdom passed down by elders in the barrio, portray Hispanic culture, and show her relationship with nature. The poems often combine Spanish and English and accurately portray Hispanic dialogue, but their subjects are universal. A clear example of her work is "¡águila!" a poem that expresses the talent she is recognized for. In a normal day, any common person can make the decision to continue, or not, with any process, work, or relationship, but it is not always easy to see what is in front of us or how it will effect our lives later. In the first lines of the poem, Vigil expresses how a person can let go of things and people without being aware of it: one's sense of being bounces off things and people. (1-4) Personality is something easy to notice in other people, but usually we do not see our own. For us, everything could be fine, and our acts generally are perfectly right. But how many times do we let go of things, people or opportunities without noticing? An enlightened sense of being could make differences in our lives; the best thing we can do is to be aware of who we are and where we are. The poem continues, "So then / one has to keep those eyes / bien truchas" (5-7). "Bien truchas" means to be aware, to be ready, to pay attention. Vigil uses this common Latin saying to encourage vision and awareness of what is going on in our surroundings: to not let opportunities or events pass, to see them and analyze them before reacting. Our sense of being could be inefficient in many situations, usually because emotions are involved at the time decisions have to be made. It is a heightened sense of reality that Vigil inspires in readers. In the next lines Vigil writes in Spanish about experience and awareness: es decir ser como aquel señor que el otro dia vi sentado en la plaza: él solo y viejo pero bien águila. (11-14) A translation of Vigil's lines follow: for example be like the man that I saw the other day sitting in the plaza: alone and old but like an eagle. First, Vigil includes a social, common place for all Latin American people, a "plaza" or "plazuela," where usually many people gather in the afternoon after a day of work to talk about events. An old man, like an eagle, is sitting there by himself. This old man could be a symbol--interpreted as experience and knowledge, and the eagle as precision, awareness, or meticulousness. The eagle's personality, vision, and skill speak for themselves, and Vigil's choice to include this creature in the poem makes the point very clear. The next lines are, "he saw all / even his senility" (15, 16). Here, Vigil explains how he was looking at every little detail around him, how he was like an "águila," paying attention to every little move around him, and how he was even looking at those last years of life. The mixing of languages could make the poem difficult to understand, but as Judith Richard says in her article, "Home Girls: Chicana Literary Voices," it would be difficult to stop this movement in Literature. Consequently, people that have grown and survived along the edges, along the borders of so many languages, worlds, and cultures relate to this kind of expression and its people. Words that express places, sounds and customs will always be a way of transportation to their natal country and customs. Vigil does it in this poem. People relate to it and at the same time explore and think about a universal message or thought. Sources Cited Dorough, Elaine. "Evangelina Vigil-Piñón." Gale Literary Databases 15 Aug. 2001 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/>. Richards, Judith. "Home Girls: Chicana Literary Voices." College Literature 22 Mar. 1998. 15 Aug. 2001 <http://www.elibrary.com/>. Vigil, Evangelina. "¡águila!" Handout. UTPA [Edinburg, TX]. 10 Aug. 2001.