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Recommended: Lives of immigrants
If I were to create something inspired by this collection or this specific topic, I would choose to write a collection of poems. I was born an American citizen and my family has lived in the US for generations. It would be hard for me to relate since I haven’t experienced immigration and I’m not that informed on the topic.
Although I wouldn’t be able to write a story, I could write a poem about what I think immigrants experience and feel when waiting for a family member or putting your life in the hands of a coyote who only wants your money.
With the topic of immigration, I would be very careful in the way I approach the subject, especially with the time we are living in. I don’t have a problem with immigrants. If someone wants to move,
I believe people lack respect for the flag and what it stands for. Although most people are proud to be an American, some don’t understand what it truly means to be an American. The flag has a history, and should be respected because of that history. Although most believe that respect should be earned, our flag has earned this many times over. And I believe that our flag is taken for granted.
I think that the strongest message on immigration was in the poem “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora. “Legal Alien” really shows how hard it is for people that are bi cultural.
The first poem that I chose was by the poet Julia Alvarez titled “Queens, 1963” this told the story of a family that has moved into in Queens, NY. The writer and narrator of this story is from the Dominican Republic. One year has passed for the family to finally settle into the neighborhood. This time an African American family has moved right across the street. The young girl notices how her neighbors have not treated this family with kindness and respect. More police have been seen patrolling through the neighborhood. When reading this poem my initial thoughts were that “Queens, 1963” describes the American people's behavior towards foreigners and their reactions. Alvarez states, “Mr. Scott, the retired plumber, and his plump Midwestern wife, considered moving back home, where white and black got along by staying where they belonged.” (Alvarez, pp 952) It will take another year and another family that will move into their neighborhood, than once the African American family settles in another family will be placed under the same scrutiny.
“Immigrants at central station, 1951”, this poem is about the Skrzynecki family waiting to depart on a train at central station to a migrant. The first stanza describes the time and the atmosphere of the where the family were the family is situated. The poem begins by capturing a brief moment in time from the whistle declaring its arrival to the scene of leaving with it. “It was sad to hear the train’s whistle this morning” these words provoke sadness where it usually brings joy. This tell us that the Skrzynecki family were sad due to the fact that they were about to travel to the unknown. “All night it had rained.” The imagery in the first stanza is depressing, the poems tone here is sad. As the poem goes on it says, “But we ate it all” the metaphor here is used for positiveness. No matter how depressed they were they still enjoyed it. The second stanza is about
My nephew is trying to get back to Tennessee and I have attached his resume. He is currently a Secret Service Agent and does their electronic crimes investigations when he is not on the road. I cannot speak of his work since I have not been around him in that capacity, but he is a man of great integrity. I spent a lot of time with him when he while he was growing up, and I have never even heard him say a curse word and he has heard me say many. If you have any openings or know of anyone in Nashville area that might be able to use him, please let me know. He would like to stay federal, but he would go private sector to get back to TN.
This darkly satiric poem is about cultural imperialism. Dawe uses an extended metaphor: the mother is America and the child represents a younger, developing nation, which is slowly being imbued with American value systems. The figure of a mother becomes synonymous with the United States. Even this most basic of human relationships has been perverted by the consumer culture. The poem begins with the seemingly positive statement of fact 'She loves him ...’. The punctuation however creates a feeling of unease, that all is not as it seems, that there is a subtext that qualifies this apparently natural emotional attachment. From the outset it is established that the child has no real choice, that he must accept the 'beneficence of that motherhood', that the nature of relationships will always be one where the more powerful figure exerts control over the less developed, weaker being. The verb 'beamed' suggests powerful sunlight, the emotional power of the dominant person: the mother. The stanza concludes with a rhetorical question, as if undeniably the child must accept the mother's gift of love. Dawe then moves on to examine the nature of that form of maternal love. The second stanza deals with the way that the mother comforts the child, 'Shoosh ... shoosh ... whenever a vague passing spasm of loss troubles him'. The alliterative description of her 'fat friendly features' suggests comfort and warmth. In this world pain is repressed, real emotion pacified, in order to maintain the illusion that the world is perfect. One must not question the wisdom of the omnipotent mother figure. The phrase 'She loves him...' is repeated. This action of loving is seen as protecting, insulating the child. In much the same way our consumer cultur...
After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.
Although I have read this book before, I still enjoy reading the stories of the hardship and challenges the immigrants overcame. Issues such as drugs and discrimination have been addressed in the book and the response the victims of such issues got from the concerned authorities in relation to their complaints. The book is based on narrations of real time events and the stereotypes that put the immigrants on the wrong side of the law almost all the time. Additionally, the need for reform can be seen from this novel where immigrants themselves echo their dissatisfaction with the current state of things in the US.
When the class was first asked to think of a topic for our reflective paper, this scenario was one that I could vividly remember as if it had just occurred yesterday. After I read Jose Antonio Vargas’s “Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” and Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”, I noticed a common theme across these two pieces that I could very much relate to. Jose Antonio Vargas’s mother reminded him to fit into the American way of living by saying “If anyone asked why I was coming to America, I should say I was
Having to adjust your own way of living, facing hardship, and wanting to achieve your goals in a new place can be difficult. How would you react if you’re facing these things in a new country? “My Favorite Chaperone” by Jean Davies Okimoto is about Maya, a teenage girl from Kazakhstan, who moves to America with her family facing challenges, where she couldn’t give up hope in her life. “The Latehomecomer” by Kao Kalia Yang is about Kao’s reactions to her new life in America. “My Favorite Chaperone” and “The Latehomecomer” are both stories about immigrants facing challenges in their new life in America but they also have different figurative language that is present in both texts.
Many families, composed of undocumented individuals, across the U.S, live in constant oppression and fear that at given moment their lives can completely change if a loved one is deported. This continuous cycle of devaluating the undocumented had caused frustration in hundreds of individuals who now join the fight against inadequate undocumented rights. In the book Dreams Deported many share their stories of resistance against the system that tears apart families and shatters dreams through deportation. The story of Hareth Andrade is one of strong resilience against deportation that portrays anti-hegemonic ideas and actions. Hereth and her younger sister came to the U.S in 2001 under tourist Visas but they stayed long after they expired thus
There is not doubt that the United States is a nation of immigrants; however for many immigrants who come to this country today there experiences are often not what they expected. More times then not many people find themselves...
Currently, today in the world that we live in, immigration is a very popular topic of discuss. Immigration has been occurring for a great deal of time and is still taking place today. In the past there were many problems with incoming strangers entering our country and bringing with them different customs. With unfamiliar attributes being presented to the nation in such a way, caused conflict between the native as well as the aliens. Some complications that were presented a century ago are still being dealt with now, and the others are no long occurring during this era.Immigration does not only include one ethnicity; It includes every enthicity that is coming from a country to settle down in our country from their native country. A msn by the name of Jacob Rii did several interviews on immigrants that were entering the country during the 1890s. During his interviews he discovered the many problems that the immigrants were facing and introducing into the United States.
With the recent Paris attacks and rumors of foreboding ISIS attacks, the topic of immigration comes up quite often in conversations. Topics such as how the immigrants should be dealt with, what exactly are the benefits and/or detriments of immigration, Donald Trump’s immigration plan, et cetera are usually discussed. With immigration gradually becoming a trending issue, various people have expressed their thoughts through means like social media and news sites. Joining this movement, this will be another text on the topic of immigration. The benefits of immigration will be presented, false information will be proven wrong, and why some people oppose immigration will be explained and discussed. Immigration should be widely accepted rather than
At the age of seven, my life changed forever. I was no longer living in my native country; I was now a fragment of the millions of immigrants who come to the United States in search of the American Dream. At the time, my father had recently lost his job and my mother was unemployed, which caused incredible financial stress for my family. My father decided to risk his life crossing the Rio Grande River for our family to have a better life and greater rewards.