![]() ![]() Alvarez remarks that she is at her most raw form in her poetry because what she writes down on paper expresses her inner most wishes and thoughts. Julia Alvarez edits “Sometimes the Words Are So Close” in a few interesting and meaningful ways which allow the reader to delve into her thought process. Therefore, “who touches this poem touches a woman,” meaning that during writing process, she has actually laid herself out on paper. Alvarez’s drafts reveal the process in which a poet finds his or her own voice and translates it onto paper. These words are omitted in the final draft as she is now able to adopt these musings in her own voice. This line is edited and literally stripped down to its component parts: “words.” In the next part of the poem, we see an inspiration from Whitman’s “Body Electric” (“feet, legs, thighs, hips, belly, breast, arms, finger). For example, in the first line of draft one, she discusses how the “poems” are so close. What Alvarez’s drafts provide is the exact process by which words transform. She makes changes in each draft that take free-floating ideas and “undresses” them so they become her own. As I examine these drafts, it is clear that she is sifting through these many ideas and finding a genuine way to make them her own. I was struck by the poet’s candid introduction about how different phrases from other pieces have inspired her final sonnet. This is especially significant given that Alvarez feels that connecting with poetry allows for true exposure of the reader, the so called “resting place” for the yearning soul. She says in line 3, “feet, legs, thigh, hips, belly, breasts, arms, finger by finger, as if the words were a hand unbuttoning the anecdotal and unnecessary to undress me down to the figure of the poem, line by line.” In her final draft, however, she shortens this by saying “I become unbuttoned from the anecdotal and unnecessary and undressed down to the figure of the poem, line by line.” She shortens this part, perhaps deeming it as too “anecdotal” and “unnecessary.” However, seeing this in the first draft allows for a better understanding of the level of vulnerability that the speaker feels when she is connected with a poem. The words are characterized as the hand that undress her. This comparison suggests that writing, and a connection with poetry, allows the speaker to be vulnerable in ways that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. In her first draft, she compares the structure of the poem to a her own body, thus personifying the poem. In Alvarez’s early drafts of “Sometimes the Words are So Close,” she further elaborates on the ways in which a poem exposes the true nature of it subject. To help you choose your emoji, please clink on this website. Timekeeper: makes sure the group stays on task within the 25-minute time frame.Įach group will write the text message with emoji in the blog comment box below. Note-taker: jots down the groups’ ideas on central themes, ideas, and emotions.Įmoji locator: finds the appropriate emoji for a specific theme/idea/emotion in each poem draft. Writer: writes down the text messages and types it in the blog post comment box according to the page number for each poem draft. ![]() Speaker: explains to the class the justification for the text messages. the final version of the poem in page 433 Each student will summarize the main ideas and feelings of each poem draft in one simple text message with an emoji of their choice:ġ. In groups of five, students will examine Julia Alvarez’s “Sometimes the Words Are So Close” in relation to previous drafts (pages 433-436 in Poetry anthology). ![]()
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