Poem 1
2>1
Two
That’s how many more languages i know compared to you
Compared to the one
Compared to the only one you own
So why?
So why criticize my two
Cuz it isn’t perfect?
Because my two compared to your one is nothing
Since nothing is what you hear when I speak
Since Nothing is what you see when I speak
Nothing is what I am to you
But when I look at you
All I see is one
And when I look at myself
All I see is more than one
So why think of me as less
Isn’t my two more than your one?
Yes where we are, your one holds power
But when you look at the bigger picture
The world itself
My two hold more power than your one
You say I can’t communicate
That many don’t understand me
But many more understand me than they would you
So why criticize my two?
When you only have one
Poem 2
?
What does it mean to have knowledge about something?
Does it mean
To understand it?
Does it mean
To be able to speak on it?
Because when I speak, they silence me
When I try to understand, They roll their eyes and ignore
So how do I know?
How do I know that they know, What I know?
That they know what I understand
How do I show them
That is what I know, my knowledge is important too
That what I know is as or even more important than what their own kind knows
Because why?
Why when I write, They just see words
But when their own kind writes, they see meaning and power
Do they understand?
Do they know?
that I know about their eye rolls
About their way of reading
And their unfair gradings
Because I know what they know
But they will never understand
What I’ve been through
Will never understand
What I know
Will never understand the importance of what I know
And with never
The greatness of my knowledge
ANALYSIS FOR 2>1
In the poem 2>1 by Genesis Duran, you can observe many rhetorical strategies being used. The poem is meant to spread awareness to those bilingual audiences that after moving into another country and having to learn their culture and language, are still being treated unfairly just because they weren’t born there. This poem tells the story from the perspective of a Spanish-speaking immigrant that has moved to America at a young age and has learned the English language but is still being treated like they are outsiders, they are being treated like their words have no value in this country.
In this poem, you can spot many different rhetorical strategies that help the poems speak to the readers and the audience. Rhetorical strategies can help improve someone’s writing in many ways, For example by adding to your writing reasoning and logical evidence you are using the rhetorical strategy LOGOS. To add on to gain the trust of your audience/readers it is good to use the rhetorical strategies ETHOS because with that they not only learn more about the author but also where their writing is coming from and the importance of this piece. Finally, by using the rhetorical strategies PATHOS you create more feeling for your writing by adding words and scenes to show the reader where you are coming from.
When looking at different pieces of the poem you can find many examples of the rhetorical strategy PATHOS. For example in parts of the poem where it states:
“Since nothing is what you hear when I speak
Since nothing is what you see when I speak
Nothing is what i am to you”
You can really feel the author’s frustration when being treated unfairly just because of the way they look or hear. By using words like “nothing” the audience can feel a stronger emotion because of how rough and powerful the word is. The purpose of adding these sentences is to connect to the audiences that have once been treated unfairly because of the way they sound when they speak.
Another rhetorical strategy seen in the poem is LOGOS. Looking for LOGOS in this poem was kinda tricky because, even though it was right in front of me, I didn’t think of it as a fact or as evidence. For example, a place where you can find logos is when it states:
“So why think of me less
Isn’t my two more than your one?”
This is an example of LOGOS because, in reality, it is a fact that 2 are greater than one. Another example is the title itself “ 2>1”, Even though the title is very simple it is important to realize that it is still important because as simple as it is, it is supposed to catch the reader’s eye and motivates them to want to read your writing.
To add on another rhetorical strategy seen in the poem is ETHOS. When reading the poem and knowing that the author is speaking about a person that is bilingual and is being discriminated against because they are not from a certain country, you can now put points together and know that this author is probably an immigrant who is being discriminated against because of their native speaking language. This is important to know because this also builds trust with readers who are immigrants and have gone through similar things in life.
ANALYSIS FOR ?
In the poem ? by Genesis Duran you can observe many rhetorical strategies being used. The poem is meant to spread awareness to those bilingual audiences that after moving into another country and having to learn their culture and language, are still being treated unfairly just because they weren’t born there. This poem tells the story from the perspective of a Spanish-speaking immigrant that has moved to America at a young age and has learned the English language but is still being treated like they are outsiders, they are being treated like their words have no value in this country.
In this poem, you can spot many different rhetorical strategies that help the poems speak to the readers and the audience. Rhetorical strategies can help improve someone’s writing in many ways, For example by adding to your writing reasoning and logical evidence you are using the rhetorical strategy LOGOS. To add on to gain the trust of your audience/readers it is good to use the rhetorical strategies ETHOS because with that they not only learn more about the author but also where their writing is coming from and the importance of this piece.Finally, by using the rhetorical strategies PATHOS you create more feeling for your writing by adding words and scenes to show the reader where you’re coming from.
In the poem ?, you can find many examples of PATHOS. Some forms of pathos are
“Because when I speak,they silence me
When I try to understand, They roll their eyes and ignore me”
By using the words “silence” and “ignore” the author forms a feeling of being attacked and not listened to by others. These two words can speak out to those people in the audience that have been silenced by other people because of the way they speak or present themselves.
In this poem, you can also find many forms of the rhetorical strategy LOGOS. For example when it states
“ Why when I write,They just see words
But when their own kind writes, they see meaning and power”
This is a form of LOGOS because it is a fact in many countries, like AMERICA, that higher in charge tend to ignore the words and resumes of people of color or “foreigners” because of their way of speaking or because of the color of their skin.
