A Study Guide for Simon Ortiz's "Hunger in New York City"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Simon Ortiz's "Hunger in New York City," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Aug 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535825191

Book preview

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Hunger in New York City

Simon Ortiz

1976

Introduction

Hunger in New York City was first published in 1976 in Simon Ortiz’s collection Going for the Rain and is also included in the 1991 book Woven Stone: A 3-in-l Volume of Poetry and Prose, which collects all of the poet’s published poetry to that time. Hunger in New York City contrasts the America exemplified by New York City to what Ortiz calls the real America, which is the Native America of indigenous people and the indigenous principle they represent. In fact, while one of the purposes of Ortiz’s work is to define Native America, another is to call for its survival. Hunger in New York City is a variation on this theme, as it tells the story of how dehumanizing city life can be in its separation from mother earth. Indeed, Ortiz has said that "[a]s a writer, I’ve tried to consider most importantly my life as a Native American who is absolutely related to the land and all that that means culturally, politically,