“The poems, good, bad, and mediocre, are revised and workshopped. The students are directed to find the Truth in their poems, to paraphrase them, and to begin transforming them into prose: prose made from the distilled, purified, and polished material the poems and produced.”
Revisions lay bases for advanced development of the plots. The poems, even though not classic, guide the writers so that they are focused on their writing. The definition of the Truth to be explored in the prose transpires in the course of revising the poems. Cofer recommends beginning the writing with poems for they delineate the plot to be developed. Moreover, poems are comparable to frameworks that guide writers on the parts which require additions in terms of content. Comparatively, commencing the writing without a poem complicates the writing course due to the absence of an outliner that is availed through the poems.
“I first heard based on this aspect of the myth happened when the boy who took me to my first formal dance leaned over to plant a sloppy overeager kiss painfully on my mouth, and when I didn’t respond with sufficient passion said in a resentful tone: “I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early” - my first instance of being thought of as a fruit or vegetable - I was supposed to ripen, not just grow into womanhood like other girls.”
Here, Cofer demonstrates how flawed myths contribute to the objectifying of the Latin girls. Evidently, the boy is overtly coercing her to respond to her kisses like a woman, although it is evident that she is not yet a woman. Cofer’s reaction demonstrates that myths reading the Latina woman’s sexuality are not universal realities.
“In Puerto Rico I heard many conversations about skin color. A pregnant woman could say, “I hope my baby doesn’t turn out prieto (slang for “dark” or “black”) “like my husband’s grandmother, although she was a good-looking negra in her time.”
The pregnant woman’s wishes indicate that she deems a black skin inferior to white. She prefers a whiter baby so that the baby will not deal with the prejudice which is inherent in the lives of black kids. This wish further confirms that the white and black Puerto Ricans are not treated equally. The woman is cognizant that the baby will have some of the grandmother’s gene, but her concern is the skin which is visible. Therefore, skin color contributes to internal racism and sentiments of inferiority.
