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textual formulas, but from a deep faith in the life met, I discovered empathy and compassion.
5
voice of my heart. . . . The power to express myself was a welcome
/
Writing bridged my divided life of prisoner storm rasping at tendril roots, flooding my
and free man. I wrote of the emotional butchery soul’s cracked dirt. Writing was water that
of prisons, and my acute gratitude for poetry. cleansed the wound and fed the parched root
Narrative
Where my blind doubt and spontaneous trust in of my heart.

Questions

1. Beginning with paragraph 2, Baca explains what it is like to be illiterate. Explain how he
communicates this feeling, especially as it relates to power.
2. Reread the paragraph that begins with “But when at last I wrote my first words on a page . . .”
(par. 9). Explain what the ability to write does for Baca. What power does it give him that he
was lacking before?
3. According to Baca, how do literacy and language create “empathy and compassion” (par. 12)?
4. Comparison. How is Baca’s attitude toward gaining a language similar to and different from
Alvarez’s attitude toward language in “La Gringuita”?
5. Informing Your Argument. Return to the table that you created on page 186. Fill in the
columns about the steps that Baca might suggest to prevent inequality based on language,
the best evidence that illustrates those steps, and your response to what Baca is
suggesting.

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