LITR 5731:
Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, fall 2001
Poetry Presentation Index
Poetry
Presentation led by Erin Gouner over
"For
Virginia Chavez" by Lorna Dee Cervantes
Recorder: Jennifer Thurik
The poem "For Virginia Chavez" by Lorna Dee Cervantes, offers
an interesting comparison between the different choices we can make in our
lives. Cervantes sets up a parallel between two women, and shows the different
paths they choose to take. The two women are friends when they were younger, and
they shared many experiences together. They saw themselves as two indestructible
wild women, making and breaking all the rules. However, in the second stanza,
Cervantes begins to show the break between the two women. One woman is starting
to take an interest in education, and she tries to enlighten her friend to the
power of literature. The other woman becomes a mother instead.
Cervantes has these two women reunite in the third stanza after the woman
who became a mother is possibly beaten, but definitely has lost her children.
The women reunite as friends despite the differences and years between them.
Cervantes shows that even though the two women have grown apart—one with an
education and the other with life experience—they can reunite because of their
past experience and the new tragedy. This poem illustrates the hope of second
chances. They have a second chance at friendship and there is hope for the
uneducated woman.
Even though this poem is about two women and the choices they make in
life, this poem can be seen as options for an individual. When looking at the
poem as two paths that one person can take, the reader can relate their own life
to the poetry. Everyone has to make choices that can affect their future, and
this poem illustrates the choice between education and ignorance.
Class
Discussion
The presentation began with Erin giving
background information over Cervantes. She asked the class to focus on objective
2a, which is to study the status of women, lesbians, and homosexuals as
analogous to that of ethnic minorities in terms of voice and choice, and to
consider "women of color" as "double minorities."
Erin thought that the lines of the poem were
very long. It felt like the author was running out of breath. The images of
twins, pregnancy, death, and the bookless room lead Erin to ask the class if
they thought there was more than one woman present or was it two sides of the
same person.
One student in the class thought that the
subject and author got confused throughout the poem.
Another student told a personal story about
having two names and that it represented a dual life of hers. This was a similar
situation that Esperanza faced when she wished for another name.
Stealing and exchanging are common threads in
the poem.
Pregnancy and growing pains in addition to
miscarriages or abortions and the dying child represents a lost childhood that
the subject of the poem must feel.
When women use their fists, they take action
against something and think.
One student wondered what the tunnels mean.
Dr. White sees a relation to Push and
when Ms. Rain advises Precious to abort her second child; sadly, it’s a choice
a woman must make that is anything but casual.
Another student recognized that when a child
makes decisions, it becomes harder, specifically when they are determining the
extent of a life.
One student saw the obvious lesbian
characteristics in this poem because it tells of a woman’s world. It also
involves two women living together. The absence of men except for the two poets
in addition with the casting off of the male idea of love contributes to the
lesbian characteristics.
The reader assumes the women are lesbians
because they are reading love poems to each other and walking while holding onto
one another. The Christian point of view goes against lesbians because of
homosexuals to reproduce.
Erin returned to her original question about
the number of people in the poem and thinks that maybe the poet wrote this poem
to the person she might have been; however, Erin does believe that there is only
one person in the poem.
Maybe the author wanted an education but
didn’t own a book. That would explain the bookless room. It the women were
really close and reading poetry to each other, there would be books present.
Erin believes that maybe she is reading the
poetry to herself.
Another student questions where the bookless
room is.
Dr. White said that if you read the poem
literally, they are not lesbians. One woman left the town and became educated
whereas the other women stayed and remained uneducated. These two women started
off together but were separated. This poem is a revisiting of the differences
between educated and uneducated friends.
Erin thinks it’s important that poetry
allows readers to make different interpretations based on the reader’s choice.
One student thought that the women were now
back together like when they were children. They are ignoring each other’s
differences.
Years separate where she is now and where she
used to be.
Dr. White said that the reader doesn’t have
to see the women as lesbians. The physical affection is what makes the readers
draw that conclusion. Nothing else in the text suggests that. According to the
lesbian continuum, women are allowed more physical intimacy than men are, but
there is no clear-cut line crossing.
It appears she is reminiscing about a 15 year
old sexual experience. Separation begins, but they can remain friends though
they go their separate ways. The metaphor for the tunnels of warm fish allows
them to remember their times together.
Another student agrees and compared the poem
to Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. In that story, one girl is grounded but
escapes as the other girl self-destructs.
Referring to the poem, one woman is the
victim of physical abuse. The abuse is the reason why they got back together.
The women were gone, but were reunited when
one was abused.
A discussion in the comparison of this poem
with the song "Goodbye Earl" by the Dixie Chicks ensued. The themes in
both pieces are common.
Dr. White stated that the woman without the
education has no voice or choice, whereas the one that is educated does have
choices available to her.
The beginning of reminiscing begins at the
beginning of the poem.
The subject is starting over because her flat
has no kids, no husband, and no books. She’s starting over from scratch.
There is a feeling of sorrow and unfairness
for the character in the poem because she was abused and her children were taken
from her.
Erin said that the ambiguousness arrives from
the division of her potential and her reality.
Dr. White concludes that the women now have
two lives, which used to be one. Two options grow from that.