After reading and annotating “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing”,  “Mexican American Disambiguation”, and “The Caged Bird Prevails”, two things that were in common with each writer was both of them found inspiration from books of other authors. José Olivarez wrote ” I needed to read books by Latinx authors. I needed to read about the Chicano Movement and the Young Lords and anti-gentrification organizers. Those authors and those stories weren’t a part of the curriculum.” he found his inspiration within the books of Latinx authors who he could relate to. Also, Stephon Hobson wrote ” I began utilizing what I had learned in school: using context clues, summarizing main ideas, and writing down words that were peculiar to me. These newly-developed skills helped me find characteristics in books that I started applying to myself. Books like Man Child in the Promised Land by Claude Brown helped me understand the environment I was living in and how to extricate myself from it. ” Stephen used his skills to analyze the words of the author and understood its meaning. Once he understood the meaning he could then relate to protagonist who suffered through poverty and violence as he did and seen how its possible to improve upon himself and his current situation.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some important ideas I found while reading the text is if you have an ambition or goal you wish to achieve you can find books or articles about people in a similar environment as you. Those same people could’ve went through the same hardships and experiences as you and could give you some foresight on how to go about the path you wish to choose. Even if that may be an author’s fictional character it could still affect a person’s mindset or perception on how to view their life. The authors’ illustrated their point by explaining their background and experiences and how they found other author’s or other inspiration that they could relate to and how it altered their life for the better.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________