Reading Response to “Oranges”
For this reading response I chose the narrative poem “Oranges”, by Gary Soto. Gary Soto (b. 1952), is a Mexican American poet from Fresno, California. Soto is a popular Chicano writer and has published many poetry books (Clugston, 2010).
I had the biggest response to this poem over the others in this week’s readings because I could relate to the little boy in a few different ways. One of the ways I related to the poem is that feeling of first “love” that is portrayed. When you have a crush on someone at a young age you feel like you are on top of the world. You would go out of your way and do things that you would not normally do for the other person. This is seen by them walking in the snow in the beginning of the poem. I highly doubt that a couple that has been together for many years would take a walk to the store on such a crisp, cold day.
Another way that I relate to the story is how the boy offered to buy the girl some candy. She chose a piece of candy that he did not have enough money for. When I was young there was many things that I wanted to have but could not because of the money situation. I know the feeling all too well of not having enough money to buy what you want and trying to barter for these things. Soto offers crisp, varied portrayals of what it's like to be young (Coats, 2008).
The vivid poem Oranges is narrated by a twelve year old boy, and starts with him telling the reader of the first time that he walked with a girl. The writer uses oranges as a symbol; the boy has two oranges in his pockets. Soto uses imagery to create the theme and meaning in the poem. The setting is December and it is cold as Soto writes, Frost cracking beneath my steps. He also sets the setting by writing, my breath before me, then gone, which gives the reader the visual of how our breath makes a fog in the cold air. Other imagery used in the poem is the light bulb on the young girl’s house, the one whose porch light burned yellow...