Birth of a Poet A writer's work is influenced by life experiences and his or her interpretation of the world. In Jimmy Santiago Baca's A Place to Stand, he provides an autobiographical account of his childhood and his eventual incarceration in prison. Baca makes the journey from an illiterate young man who uses violence to survive the harsh reality of prison life, to a poet with a purpose in life. While in prison, Baca is sent to solitary confinement more than once. This greatly influences his growth as a person and as a writer. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay “More than anything, I loved the outdoors” (Baca 104). This realization hit him while he was on the bus headed to the prison where he would spend the next five years of his life. Baca's first time in solitary confinement proved to be his hardest. With his days broken only by daily meals slipped through a crack in his cell door, he had nothing but his thoughts to keep him company in the darkness. Baca went through a wide range of emotions during his 30 days of isolation that tested his sanity. From nightmares of the fight that brought him there, to paranoia about crawling rats, bugs and other prisoners about to come through the walls, Baca had to somehow fight his growing panic and overcome the seemingly endless loneliness. After trying to exercise to curb his boredom and stay sane, he eventually fell into depression and sat there letting time pass. After hitting rock bottom, he may continue to live in despair or look for ways to get back up. Being placed back into the general prison population was like being given a new lease on life. After his senses had been deprived for so long, even the random sights and sounds of prison seemed beautiful. “My new beginning had a real sweetness; I was eager to start experiencing my time from a completely different point of view” (Baca 126). Not a writer yet, but more of a sense of being happy just to be alive. Baca began his second period of solitary confinement with the belief that he survived the first time, so he could do it again. Instead of treating the darkness and loneliness of isolation as a terrifying prospect, Baca has used this time to remember and reflect on his past. What at first was just a way to pass the time, thinking about the past, strengthened Baca's focus and turned into something more. “I had never entered my memories so vividly before. I felt more outside the cell than inside” (Baca 134). He was so immersed in his memories that the past and present became a confusing jumble. The daydream always ends in the dark and lonely cell. Coming out of solitary confinement this time, Baca felt a change within himself. “I saw things as if for the first time because there was something different inside me” (Baca 155). He wanted to attend prison school to get his GED. Despite being on his best behavior, he was denied this opportunity during his reclassification hearing. Without his time in solitary confinement, Baca might have reacted violently, but instead he silently protested by refusing to work and doing little more than staring at the bars of his cell. “It was the first time I felt like I was accomplishing something, even if I didn't understand why” (Baca 166). In this seemingly small way, he was taking as much control of his life as possible in a prison environment. Conducted in his third period of.