
First, some logistical points:
Next week, we move on to a significant poet and key person in defining the Nuyorican movement: Pedro Pietri
On Monday February 3rd, I’ll be doing a lecture at SUNY New Paltz, so class will not meet. Use the time to catch up on the reading for Wednesday, (which is longer than usual) and (re?)read the Juan Flores essay that we covered Wednesday 1/29: the points he makes here are key to the course.
On Wednesday February 5th Read the interview with Pedro Pietri and the section from his book Puerto Rican Obituary, both posted on the Readings page. There are 2 separate PDFs. Read the interview first, then read the poems. Focus on the following poems: “Puerto Rican Obituary”, “The Broken English Dream”, “Suicide Note from a Cockroach”, and “Love Poem for My People”. Note: “Puerto Rican Obituary” is both the title of his most well-known poem and the title of the book it’s from.
Watch Pietri read “Puerto Rican Obituary” here
… and here:
Think of the following questions as you read: