peer draft

• intro
• introduce poem and author
• theme: tragedy
• define canon: between Mexican and american canons
• Mexican literature: ballad/corrido
• body paragraph 1
• should be in canon because this style of poetry is important to the hispanic culture 
• tells stories of heroes
• can be sung, music genre: corridor
• el corrido de Gregorio cortez is one of the most famous corridos in this era
• Who is gregorio cortez?
• hero 
• horse thief
• body paragraph 2
• this poem speaks up for the people of this country, in this case Mexico
• how does Gregorio cortez portray this?
• pride: "Don't run you cowardly rangers from one lone mexican"
• fearless: "Turned towards Laredo without any fear"
• Laredo is a city at the mexican-american border 
• Speaks up for immigrants
• body paragraph 3
• cultural references/connections
• cities and counties
• mare and pistol 
• pesos

Gigi Paniagua

March 14, 2018

Dan Curtis-Cummins

The Tragedy of Gregorio Cortez

In the poem, El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, by an anonymous writer, the author expresses the tragedy of a heroic farmer through a ballad. A ballad is a form of poetry that tells a story. Based on Gulgenberg’s article, “Decolonizing the Canon: Considerations of Third World Literature,” the canon is defined as the general rule of literature that a territory had. In this case, the poem I chose is from Mexican descent and portrays the importance of Mexican literature to its people.

The poem, El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, should be elevated in status of canon literature because this style of poetry is important to the hispanic culture. It is most likely not going to be in the literary canon due to race culture. This poem lies between a Mexican and American literary canon. It can also be sung as a corrido, which is genre of music from Mexico. Uniquely, this poem tells a story of a hero, or a horse thief, that represents Mexican literature. This ballad is one of the most famous corridos in this era as it talks about a true story of the tragedy of Gregorio Cortez. Cortez is known as a hero to his people and is also known as a thief to the Americans. He would flee away county to county being chased by sheriffs and everyone in town for “a reward of 3000 pesos.” This ballad ends with his tragedy of being caught but continues to be fearless.

For the purpose of Gregorio Cortez, he speaks up for the people of his country and immigrants in Latin America. In this case, Cortez speaks up for his people in Mexico. The story of this hero relates to migrating hispanics going to the United States to run away from their problems and start a new life. They travel hundreds of miles to get to where they want to be but the Mexican-American border usually stops them from entering. Cortez shows his pride and fearlessness to the Americans by calling them out by saying, “Don’t run you cowardly rangers from one lone Mexican.” He knows his worth and believes in himself that he will get justice for his dead brother. The ballad continues to share the different counties he ran off to, specifically Laredo, to symbolize his fearlessness. Laredo is a small town right at the border between Mexico and United States. Nevertheless, this poem depicts the importance of Mexican literature in the lives of Mexican people as it shares a piece of history.

The mare and pistol had a great significance in cultural connections. The mare was the main reason to why Cortez was being chased in the first place.