While Sanchez’s experiences were paramount in shaping both her personal and writing identity, there were additional factors contributing to her narrative distinctiveness. Specifically, Sanchez held an insatiable thirst for knowledge, which consequently led to her remarkable consumption of all things literary. As Sanchez herself would put it, “I read everything” (Melhem 222). As a result, between what she lived and what she learned, Sanchez had a lot to say and sought a “fresh rearrangement of knowledge” (Gabbin 50). She found this arrangement and her voice, now devoid of stuttering, in the poetical form, and it was quite a roaring voice indeed. Sanchez herself described this, stating “when I started writing I was sharp, acerbic” (Reich 295).
