MichaeleSchramm

Michaele Schramm
 * "The Changeling" by Judith Ortiz Cofer**

>> As a young girl vying for my father's attention, I invented a game that made him look up from his reading and shake his head as if both baffled and amused.

In my brother's closet; I'd change into my dungarees-the rough material molding me into boy shape; hide my long hair under an army helmet he'd been given by Father, and emerge transformed into the legenday Che of grown-up talk.

Strutting around the room, I'd tell of the life in the mountains of carnage and rivers of blood, and of manly feasts with rum and music to celebrate victories. //para la libertad// He would listen with a smile to my tales of battles and brotherhood until mother called us for dinner.

She was not amused by my transformations, sternly forbidding me from sitting down with them as a man. She'd order me back to the dark cubicle that smelled of adventure, to shed my costume, to braid my hair furiously with blind hands; and to return invisible, as myself, to the real world of her kitchen.

Way 1: First Impressions
The poem, "The Cangeling" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is a dramatic monologue that takes us into the life of a little girl who is "vying" for her father's love and attention (line 2). The girl who does not seem to be noticed by her father invents a game that would make him notice or at least "look up". However, the father is "baffled and amused" by her actions(5).

The girl slips away into her brother's closet, like Clark Kent changing into Superman, and begins her transformation into a boy. She puts on "dungarees", which are rough just like boys, and instantly begins to feel the transformation take place as she feels the "molding" of her body into the shape of a boy. She has to hide all evidence that she is a girl and puts her hair "under an army helmet" "he'd been given by Father"(9,10). She is now transformed into a man and more importantly "the legenday Che"(11).

She is now a man and can relate to her father by telling stories about life in "the mountains" and her "carnage and rivers of blood"(15). She is a great mighty hunter and celebrates with "manly feasts"where she will drink and dance(16). She is at last victorious, but then her mother calls.

Her mother is not happy with the game she is playing and forbides her to sit at the table with them "as a man"(23). She must return, all alone, back to the ""dark cubicle" where her transformation took place. She "sheds" her "costume" and angrily turns herself back into a girl. As she is braiding her hair "with blind hands" (27) it is apparent that she is once again becoming "invisible" and will no longer receive the attention that she had been craving from her father. She must now return back to the "real world", the "kitchen", which is where a girl belongs.

I qustioned the phrase "he'd been given by Father". It made me wonder if the brother had died in war and the girl was trying to fill in for him and therefore help her father forget how much he missed him. The other explanation may be that her father was in the war and she was just trying to relate to him by dressing as a soilder. I also wondered why her mother was so mad that she was dressing up. Again I thought maybe it was the fact that the brother did die in war and the mother did not want to be reminded of this or did she find it insulting that her daughter did not want to live in the kitchen like she has too.

This poem is a narrative poem that does not contain verses that rhyme. There does not seem to be any specific rhythm to this poem either. The poem is written in free verse which pays particular attention how the poem is punctuated. There are also line breaks that give clues to the meaning of the poem. In the second stanza the words "I'd change" are seperate by a semicolon and placed at the end of the line even though it is the beginning of the next sentence. This isolates these words putting an emphasis on them to show the girl is changing. The word "hide" is also placed in this format to show that the girl did want anyone to know of her transformation. There is also emphasis on the word "emerge" as it is also seperated at the end of the line. It makes you pause to realize something significant is taking place. The places of punctuation also help to show lonliness and sadness that the girl faces in her everyday life. This is also apparent in line 28 that only says "as myself", which again shows the lonliness the girl endures.
 * Way 2: Engaging With the Text**

The poem, "The Changeling" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, can be classified as a dramatic monologue. This poem reveals the "thoughts of a single speaker" (Brown and Yarbrough 85), who is usually the speaker and not the author of the poem. The reader is able to determine who is actually speaking. In this poem it is the little girl. She is telling how she tries so desperately to gain her fathers love and attention. In a dramatic diologue the reader is also able to identify where the poem is taking place and the situation. This poem the reader can picture the little girl playing in her house and the closet that she makes her "transformation" in. The situation is also clear to visualize. The little girl is vying for her fathers' attention and she is trying to do what she can to make this happen.
 * Way 3: A Point About Form and Its Relationship to Content**

Way 3: Another Point About Its Relationship to Content
The poem is written in free verse. This is "verse that is written without regular metrical form or a uniform overall rhyme scheme" (Brown and Yarbrough 93). Although the poem above does not have any rhyme scheme or any regular metrical form, it does contain stanzas that are written in a pattern that causes you to stop and pause at certain points in the poem. This draws attention to these words and allows the reader to place emphasis on these words which have significant meaning to the poem. The word "hide", for example, is placed at the end of a line seperated by a semicolon. This places emphasis on this word and causes the reader to take note that the girl wants to hide, not only her hair but also the fact that she is a girl.

Way 4: Figurative Language
In Judith Ortiz Cofer's poem "The Changeling", the speaker tells her audience that they were "molding me into boy shape" (line 8). This passage is primarily an image because it is a specific detail that appeals to the senses. An image that helps us imagine something beyond just a thought. This image is visual as we can actually see something being molded into a specific shape. Denotation is an important part of understanding figurative language, for it gives the reader the literal meanings of the words used. So what does molding mean? Molding means to "work into a required shape or form" and "to have influence in determining or forming" (Dictionary.com). The word "shape" means " quality found in some individual object or body form" (Dictionary.com). The next step that is considered in unpacking figurative language is understanding its connotative meaning. what does the phrase "molding me into boy shape" mean? Because this is an image, the reader can visualize the girl working herself into a different form. Inthis case she is forming herself into a boy. The reader can visualize the body forming itself this way. This image is very significant to the theme of the poem. It shows that the young girl wants to be a boy to make her father happy and she is willing to totally change her "shape" to make this happen.

A second piece of figurative language, in the poem "The Changeling", is the phrase "sitting down with them as a man" (22). This passage is primarily a simile because it compares the young girl to a man. It even sounds like a comparison because the word "as" is used. The one word,in this phrase, that the reader can look at the denotation meaning of is "man". This literally means "an adult male" (Dictionary.com). The young girl throughout the story is trying to change herself into a boy. Now, through her actions of telling stories "of battles and brotherhood", she is now a "man" and is ready to sit down at the table as one. She is ready to be an adult. This passage again refers to the young girl trying to "change" herself into someone her father will pay attention to.
 * Way 4: Figurative Language**

The setting for this poem takes place in an average Hispanic home back in the 1950's. The cultural aspect of the poem is evident by the use of Spanish text, "para la libertad". The reference to the "legendary Che" is also of Hispanic nature as he was a Argentine marxist revolutionary leader (Wikipedia). The mother spends her time in "the real world of her kitchen". It was common for women to be stay at home house wives and the kitchen is where they spent a lot of their time.
 * Way 5: Analyzing the Setting**

This poem is written in the first-person point of view. The first-person point of view is told by a narrator who is an actual charater in the story. This point of view is evident by the character refering to herself as "I". There are several examples of this in the poem. "I invented a game", Shows that the narrator is describing something that she was actually doing. "I'd tell of life in the mountains" and "my tales of battles", again the narrator is telling of something that she was doing. The identity of the narrator in this poem is unknown. She only refers to herself as "a young girl". It is important that this poem is written in the first-person point of view. In this view the reader is able to understand the true thoughts and feelings of the narrator. The reader can understand how the narrator feels, not wanted by her father, as she is "vying" for her father's attention and trying to mold herself "into boy shape". Initially I thought the father did not want her, however; after readingthe author's biography I learned that her father pressured her to learn American cultures. I think this is why the girl in the poem had to vy for his attention. Unless the girl acted more like a boy, which was not acceptable to her mother because of her Hispanic culture, the father was not interested in paying any attention to her.
 * Way 6: Identifying and Analyzing Point of View**

An ambiguity mentioned in the poem is "that smelled of adventure". Does adventure really have a smell? Not really. Adventure means something exciting or an unusual experience and smell means to perceive, detect, or investigate. The young girl is looking to investigate an exciting experience.This phrase is also referring to the fact that the young girls' adventures seem so real to her that she could smell them. She knew they existed and felt like they were really happening until she was ordered back to the "dark cubicle".
 * Way 7: Analyzing Complexity, Ambiguity, & Difficulty**

There are three main points to consider when determining if a piece of literature is worthy of being placed in the canon. The piece ofliterature must have a perceived aesthetic value, have historical or cultural significance, and have longevity or subsequent influence on other works of literature. The poem "The Changeling" has these qualities and therefore should be part of the canon. This poem has aesthetic beauty. It contains symbols, imagery, and ambiguities that help tell its' true story. The poem is also full of figurative language which adds to the beauty. The poem contains both historical and cultural value. It contains information about a great Argentinian revolutionary leader and describes how woman lived and were valued not only in society generally but also inthe hispanic culture. Because the poem has both the aesthetic and cultural value, contributes to the third point of being included in the canon. The poem will continue to bea popular reading for some time to come.
 * Way 8: Considering Canonicity**

Judith Ortiz Cofer, the author of "The Changeling" was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico in 1952. Her father was a member of the U.S. Navy. She lived with family in Paterson, New Jersey and when her father went out to sea she went to Puerto Rico to live with her mother. Her mother only spoke Spanish and therefore she considered this her home language. She used English as her literary language because she felt she had more experience with it. Her father often pressured her to learn American customs while her mother pressured her to remember her heritage. This biographical data is important to understand as it helps give the reader some insight to understanding the poem. The poem is about a young girl vying for the attention of her father. Cofer was an only child who tried to please her father who pressured her to learn American cultures. Cofer's mother wanted her daughter to stay true to her Hispanic culture. This is similar to the young girl's mother in the poem who "was not amused" by her trying to be a man (20) (Cofer).
 * Way 9: Biographical Context**

The history and culture of an author can influence the style and content of a piece of writing. Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and therefore of the Hispanic culture. She eludes to this culture by referencing several things in her poem. She incorporates some of the Spanish language into the poem by the phrase "para la libertad" (16). She also refers to the "legenday Che" who was an Argentine marxist revolutionary leader (11). Her father was in the military and she references this in the poem by refering to the "army helmet" that she would hide her long hair under (9). Cofer grew up in two different cultures and always felt different from the other children. She burried herself into reading different kinds of books when in New Jersey and listened to many oral tales from her grandparents when she was in Puerto Rico. As a young girl she found it difficult to find her belonging in the two cultures. This issue was to have "a tremendous influence on her writing" (Cofer).
 * Way 10: Historical and Cultural Contexts**

Applying the Feminist criticism approach is another way to understanding literary works. In the poem, "The Changeling", how would the Feminist approach be applied and what questions would a Feminist ask? What is to be understood by the phrase "and to return invisible" (27)? The Feminist approach would look at this phrase and think of the time of the 1950's. This is when women did not have equal rights and were expected to be stay at home mothers. They were expected to take care of the home and family. It was a woman's purpose in life. She was alaso to be subordinate to the man of the house and follow his rules. The phrase mentioned lets the reader know how the young girl felt about abiding to the "normal" rules. She felt invisible as as many girls and woman did in that time. They were not an active member of society and their thoughts and feelings were usually not heard. A second phrase that may be of interest to Feminists is "made him look up" (3). What does this have to do with being a woman? Why would a man not always look and pay attention to a girl in his life? Again, because woman were not valued as much in society, men did not pay attention to what they did. It was felt that women did do was not worth noting and therefore no point in paying any attention to them. A woman had to do something that was out of character to make a man pay attention to her.
 * Way 11: Theoretical Application**

Psychoanalytic criticism is another approach to understanding literary works. Psychoanalytic criticism was founded by Sigmund Freud who was a doctor and scholar. "Psychoanalysis is a set of theories concerning the relationship between conscious and unconscious thought processes" (Brown and Yarbrough 214). How would one psychoanalyze the above poem? What questions would they ask? Why does the young girl want to be molded into a boy's shape? Why is she vying for her fathers attention? And why is her mother not amused? The girl is unconsiouly wanting to be a boy. She is feeling that her father will love and pay more attention to her if she was a boy. She feels she must look and act like a boy in order for her father to notice her. As a boy, she would not be subjected, like a girl, to be invisible to the world. The mother is upset by her daughters attempts and feels she should be proud to be a girl. The mother wants her daughter to follow in her foot steps and be a loving house wife like she is. She feels her daughter's place is in the kitchen, which is her reality.
 * Way 12: Another Theoretical Application**

The poem, "The Changeling" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is a poem about a young girl who is vying for her father's attention by dressing as a boy. The poem is written in free verse that seems to pay particular attention to the punctuation and sentence set up throughout the poem. There are specific words that are set apart by punctuation so there is greater emphasis placed on them."Hide" is an example of this and shows how important it was for the girl to keep her desires to be a boy hidden from the rest of the world. Free verse is also a style that is written without rhyme or regular meter. There is no evidence of a regular meter or rhyming throughout the poem. This poem can also be classified as a dramatic diologue. This reveals that the poem is written from the thoughts of a single speaker. The young girl is telling how she is feeling about her life and how she is vying for her father's attention. She reveals how she must act and behave in order for her father to pay her any attention.
 * Way 13: Unifying Interpretation**

Throughout the poem there are many uses of figurative language that help the reader to look deeper into the poem to understand the thoughts and feeling of the speaker. The reader can see the image of "molding me into boy shape" and the simile "sitting down with them as a man" (8, 22). It becomes clearer to the reader how important it was for the girl to look and act lie a boy. It is also showing how the girl did not want to grow up and be "invisible" like her mother was in the "real world of her kitchen" (28).

The final aspects of importance to understanding the poem are the bigraphical and cultural information. The background of an author can give a lot of insight to what the author is writing about and why. There are many similarities throughout the poem that resemble the actual life of the author. The author was an only girl who also tried to please her father by learning aspects of the American culture but also trying to stay true to her Hispanic culture as well. This was very evident throught the plot of the poem. The girl is "vying for my father's attention" and her mother "not amused" by her actions (2, 20). She must "hide" while she makes her "transformation" and her costume is "molding her into boy shape", for this is the only way she is not "invisible" to her father (8, 21, 26).


 * Works Cited and Consulted**

Brown, James S., Scott D. Yarbrough. __A Practical Introduction to Literary Study.__ Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

__Che Guevara.__ Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 July 2009. [].

__Dictionary.com.__ Home page. 25 July 2009. [].

Ortiz Cofer, Judith ." Tenth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators. 2008. Biographies Plus Illustrated. H. W. Wilson. UW Coleges Libraries . 30 July 2009 <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.uwc.edu/.