All My Heroes Are Broke

Authors

Ariel F. Henriquez, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Campbell McGrath

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Denise Duhamel

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Jason Pearl

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

poetry, America, poems, broke

Date of Defense

3-1-2017

Abstract

ALL MY HEROES ARE BROKE is a poetry collection written from the perspective of a first generation American coming to terms with the implicit struggles and disillusionment of the American Dream. The first section takes place in New York, both implicitly and explicitly, and serves to introduce the speaker and reveal aspects of his family’s history. The second section takes place in Florida, and continues to further exemplify the speaker’s growing cynicism towards the circumstances of his life, and the peculiar atmosphere of solitude that it creates.

ALL MY HEROES ARE BROKE primarily uses two forms: short, image driven poems inspired by the works of Robert Bly and Po Chu-I; and longer narrative poems that reveal more personal information about the speaker, in the manner of Li-Young Lee and Frank O’Hara, allowing the speaker to project his own life onto his surroundings and the people of those larger communities.

Identifier

FIDC001796

Recommended Citation

Henriquez, Ariel F., "All My Heroes Are Broke" (2017). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3266.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3266