What Is The Connection Between After Jumping Some Kids And Taking Their Money

Daniela Tapia

Cari Potts

ENG 102-008

6 February 2023 Poverty In Poetry The most compelling poems are narrative poems that tell stories about topics ranging from love to violence to misfortune. These types of stories attract readers because they could very well be connected to the authors' experiences. James Tyner, the author of “After Jumping Some Kids and Taking Their Money”, uses poverty as his connection. Poverty is the basis of Tyner’s poetry scheme where he unequivocally wrote about a persona that displays the reality of poverty. Tyner’s use of character, plot, and symbolism in his poem establishes a connection to his childhood and the narrator, illustrating the scenery of poverty through the lens of a child.

The poem describes

The author makes the decisions and as a reader, it’s essential to know why those decisions were made. One can infer from the title that kids and money are the plot. Tyner states, “We buy Cheetos and Fanta / with the money we stole” (1-2). Tyner has said before that he grew up in a poor community. It is not far-fetched for readers to infer that Tyner could have done these actions himself since Tyner told KVPR he was, “... homeless, and living in tough, gang-ridden neighborhoods in Southern California” (Moore 1). It is fairly common for writers to explore their past in their writing, and this could potentially be Tyner explaining the actions and causes, emotions and how the economic displacement of his community affected the childhoods of the children in those streets. This quote makes the reader infer, with some background knowledge about the class system, that he must have come from a poor community. Furthermore, growing up in a poor community can feel like one is under the pressure of having to fit in or do what’s necessary to survive. Here it is suggested that Tyner exemplifies the guilt he feels through the main

Authors do this for a number of reasons, but one big reason is that authors try to hint to readers what it is that they mean because they can’t directly express the frame of mind they are in so they give readers a puzzle to try to solve. This is called symbolism which helps readers come up with an idea of what the audience thinks he's talking about using his deliberate messages throughout the text. For example, Tyner states in his poem, “Fingers grow orange / from the powder of our breakfast…” (6-7). The dirty fingers growing orange represent the inherited mess that ends up being the outcome of the conflict that pollutes the community. Not only that but it could be a representation of powder being represented as blood on their own hands. Tyner also states, “…and stomachs pop out / between ribs and belt buckles / as the soda slides down” (8-10). The weakness of the belt buckle highlights unobtainable income that would be needed to continuously obtain high-quality items. Symbolism helps to create a valuable meaning that leaves an impression on the reader. Tyner purposefully expressed himself this way to let the audience interpret his message in their own unique