Mary Lou L. Narowski
Gary Soto
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"Oranges"
"
Oranges
,"
by Gary Soto,
found at the website.
http://www.edhelper.com/poetry/Oranges_by_Gary_Soto.htm
is straightforward, unintimidating, and accessible to all levels of my student groups. The poem is written by a Hispanic author who rose from the Mexican barrios, who is a contemporary poet, and with whom, I believe, my students will identify. The following website contains an extended biography on Soto http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Sh-Z/Soto-Gary.html.which can be drawn upon for a great deal of background information.
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The speaker in this poem is reminiscing about his first love at the age of twelve. They will note that the poem is written in the first person and that it probably was not written in 2011 as a candy bar certainly does not cost $.10. Knowing this might explain the fact that the saleslady accepted his orange as partial payment, something that would not happen today. But some of the sweetest parts of the poem come from the images Soto describes. We need to ask ourselves, "How does the imagery (the visual pictures created by the poet) construct or add to the poem's theme, tone, and purpose?"
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Visual and Sensory:
Are the images literal (actual pictures you can see in your
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head) or figurative (images that represent other thoughts or ideas),abstract
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(intangible), or concrete (physical)? What sensory experiences (sights, sounds,
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feelings, smells, and tastes) are evoked? Are certain images repeated? Are they
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repeated as a chorus or is the repetition in the form of beginning sounds called
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alliteration? Is there present the use of onomatopeoia where the formation or use
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of certain words imitate the sound associated with those words and thus elicit
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meaning? How are these images dependent on other elements? If so, how and
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which ones? Frost referred to this sound process as "the imaginative ear." Do any
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of these images demand that we hear sound?
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The poem's language and tone is very informal, youthful, and almost playful yet we feel it and understand Soto's intent. It is consistent from start to finish. The acoustic description, Frost's "imagining ear,"
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demands that we
hear
the ice cracking, the dog barking, and the
tiny
bell ringing. "Write with the ear to the speaking voice, as if the ear came first and the voice took dictation."
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We not only hear these sounds but feel them and know exactly what Soto means and why he used them. We are
shown
the yellow glow of the porch light and her winter rouge as we walk with the pair down the tree-lined streets and past the used car lot. Soto's simple images are known to all of us. In the drugstore we envision the tiered candies and the narrator fingering the nickel. Through the use of imagery, we all get the lump in our throats when he realizes that she has chosen a dime candy. We feel and hear ourselves swallow hard. The language is simple and it is through this simplicity that all else evaporates and we are left with a feeling of dread. We feel the tension of the image mount as he places the candy and the orange on the counter knowing full well disaster lays in the balance and we are elated when the saleslady forgives with an understanding look. When the crisis is over, we move outside to see the fog hanging like old coats between the trees as they walk hand in hand down the street. We understand the emotion here. There is nothing that can ruin this feeling and nowhere where they'd rather be. It is puppy love personified.
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Metaphor
: Does the poet use
metaphors
, (comparison without like or as) to make associations and express images or abstract ideas? Is there an
extended metaphor
(a comparison that is expressed throughout the poem)? What is the effect of the metaphors on the tone and theme of the poem? Are there word choices that can be heard?
Symbolism
: Are certain objects or actions developed in the imagery symbolic of an abstract idea? Do these
symbols
reoccur? Do they help to create an
allegory
(a symbol or fable that provides a secondary meaning)?
The final image is a metaphoric comparison of the orange to fire. But it is more than that. The orange also symbolizes his first adolescent love, his first fire in the belly, his first unidentified passions of love. We come to understand the innocence and sweetness that first love brings. The colors of heat are sprinkled throughout the poem, first with the orange, then the yellow light, to the rouge on her face, and finally to the lines,
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I peeled my orange
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that was so bright against
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the gray of December
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That, from a distance,
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Someone might have thought
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I was making a fire in my hands.
In the end, we are left with a warm glow that the world is truly a wonderful place to be when the sweetness of the candy of love is tasted by these two young people. It is my hope that my students will now be inspired to attempt some poetry writing for themselves.
