“La Migra” by Pat Mora is a poem about two different situations on the US-Mexico Border. The narrator is takes on the position of a border patrol officer and a Mexican woman. Pat Mora’s poem “La Migra” shows two situations concerning the US-Mexico border in the view of small children. Mora’s choice to address border issues through a simple conversation between children. Mora’s frequent line breaks and use of simple language emphasize the innocence and childish behavior of the two characters despite the complex situation. The poem is composed of two stanzas. Mora uses these stanzas to convey two different situations at the US-Mexico Border. The first stanza places Mora as a Mexican maid. The second stanza places Mora as a border patrol officer. …show more content…
Every line is between two and five words. La Migra is a game played by the children about the US-Mexico border. Mora uses the short lines to add emphasis to the words spoken and continue the theme of innocence while dealing with complicated situations. Mora’s use of short lines and word choice emphasizes the innocence of the scenario. The two stanzas are very similar, but are also very different from each other.
The stanzas both begin with the phrase, “Let’s play La Migra,” but take very different paths after the initial line. The first stanza places the border patrol officer as superior to the Mexican maid, which is what is typically shown in the media. However the second stanza reverses the superiority and places Mexican woman is in power. Mora purposely separated these two stanzas to show both sides of a common situation for undocumented immigrants. The last line of both stanzas end with “Get ready.” Mora does this to emphasize the need of acting fast. The superior person is speaking to the person who is weak in both stanzas. Mora calls attention to the fact that if the Mexican maid loses her focus, then she could get picked up by the officer and that if the officer’s jeep gets a flat tire, then he would be stranded and weak. The similarities and differences between the two stanzas show that even though the characters have difference situations they can be helpless and …show more content…
powerful. In “La Migra” Mora introduces three different characters: the border patrol officer, the Mexican maid, and the Mexican woman. In the two stanzas, the border patrol officer remains constant, but the female characters do not. The Mexican maid is introduced in the first stanza. She is shown as helpless and weak under the border patrol officer. The Mexican woman is introduced in the second stanza. The woman is shown as strong and powerful. Mora mentions the profession of the first female, but not of the second. She does this to emphasize the first female’s desire for a better life in a different country. The Mexican woman’s profession is probably not mentioned because the Mexican woman does not want anything to do with the United States. The border patrol officer is a powerful with his possessions, but when one of his possessions fails, he becomes weak and helpless. The three characters that Mora introduces add an element of strength and weakness to the poem. The possessions of the characters in the poems show what is important to the character.
The border patrol officer has a badge, sunglasses, jeep, boots, handcuffs, and a gun. The badge and handcuffs show that the officer has the power and permission from the state to do whatever he chooses. The sunglasses give him the advantage to see and protect himself in the hot desert. The jeep lets him travel farther and faster than the immigrants crossing the deserts. The boots give the officer protection from the rough desert sand. The gun is a reminder that the officer can do whatever he chooses to do, regardless of the consequences. The Mexican woman does not have material possessions. She has knowledge of the desert, which allows to her position herself and find sweet water springs. She also has her friends too; they give her company and help her fulfill her journey. The difference between the two characters is the material possessions and immaterial possessions. Mora’s word choice is important to note; in the second stanza Mora writes, “All you have is heavy: hat, glasses, badge, shoes, gun.” This line is interesting to note because she makes the word “heavy” a noun and lists the items that the border patrol officer possesses. By phrasing the sentence in this manner, Mora makes sure to emphasize that the goods that the border patrol officer carries will be a burden and cannot help him in the desert sun. The goods he carries is noted as very useful in the previous stanza, but in the
second stanza they render the officer as useless. In the first stanza, the officer’s possessions are used as tools of intimidation toward the Mexican maid. Even though, the officer’s possessions give some form of safety and help in the desert, they are no match for the Mexican woman’s knowledge and support system of friends. Mora’s decision to illustrate a common situation for undocumented immigrants through a conversation between two children helps the reader understand the situation at the US-Mexico border.
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
The repetition of the words “waited” (13), and “watched” (14), throughout the stanzas adds anaphora and mystery to the vivid disapproval surrounding the family. Moreover, the use of repetition deepens the focus on the shame and guilt the young girl and her family are experiencing. The anaphora used throughout the poem intends that there is something being waited for. Therefore, the colonialist settlers are continuously waiting and watching for something to happen. In the last stanza Dumont states, “Or wait until a fight broke out” (55), suggesting that this is the action being waited for. As a result, the negative action causes the family to feel shame and regret. Overall, the use of musicality and anaphora successfully allows the reader to experience the pressure of
This gives Sanchez liberty to create unique meter of her own which she did in many lines in her poem. In every single line there is a variation of feet, and none of the lines follow a certain rhythm. This disorganization in meter and rhythm reflects the narrator’s own tumultuous life. The reader knows that the narrator struggles with a difficult relationship with her mom, and to release those feelings of anger towards her, she smoke heroin. Thus, the disorganized meter and rhythms sound just like the narrator’s own life. The meter also becomes more disorderly as the narrator becomes more involved in frenzied, drug-related activity. In line fourteen, the sentence reads “I did it. Uh. Huh. I did it. Uh huh.” Clearly, Sanchez used free verse with no meter to mirror the narrator’s own troubled
This poem captures the immigrant experience between the two worlds, leaving the homeland and towards the new world. The poet has deliberately structured the poem in five sections each with a number of stanzas to divide the different stages of the physical voyage. Section one describes the refugees, two briefly deals with their reason for the exodus, three emphasises their former oppression, fourth section is about the healing effect of the voyage and the concluding section deals with the awakening of hope. This restructuring allows the poet to focus on the emotional and physical impact of the journey.
Although this section is the easiest to read, it sets up the action and requires the most "reading between the lines" to follow along with the quick and meaningful happenings. Millay begins her poem by describing, in first person, the limitations of her world as a child. She links herself to these nature images and wonders about what the world is like beyond the islands and mountains. The initial language and writing style hint at a child-like theme used in this section. This device invites the reader to sit back and enjoy the poem without the pressure to understand complex words and structure.
Martinez, Demetria. 2002. “Solidarity”. Border Women: Writing from la Frontera.. Castillo, Debra A & María Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 168- 188.
Elena Poniatowska escrita durante una epoca de cambio en Mexico. Antes de sus obras las mujeres mexicanas eran sometidos, docil, y pasivo. En la tiempo de sus obras las mujeres estaba tratando salir de los estereotipos de antes. Esta problema social tomo un afecto en Elena. Aunque ella no viene de un movimiento literatura directamente, ella escrita con el concepto de compremetido. En su narrative El Recado ella crea un mujer estereotipical que no puede controlar sus emociones. La titula es eso porque ella viene a ver su amante, pero el no esta, asi ella escribe las cosas que sentia. La perspectiva es de un personaje y ella nunca interacta con otros personajes. En facto la unica descripcion de un personaje otro de la protagonista es de su amante Martin. Habla de otros personajes, pero solamente de sus acciones. Porque ellas es la unica perspectiva que tenemos es sencillo a sentar compasion para una protagonista de quien nombre no aun sabemos. Ella da la descripcion de toda que vea, y mas importante todo que se sienta. Tambien tropos y figuras retoricas dan un tono significante al poema. Estos sentimientos de la portagonista y el tono emocional de la narrativa transporta una tema de una mujer estereotipical y debil quien quiere ser reconocido.
Poems are forms of communication that give an applicable view of the past, present and future events. Reading the poem titled “America”, written by Richard Blanco brought me memories from my childhood in my parent’s house and also what is happening now in my house as a parent. The poem explains how one person doesn’t have all the knowledge about something. It also, describes the daily life struggles I experienced during my childhood, when my parent 's and I moved from our hometown to live in another town becuase of their work and it brings to light the conflict of cultures I and my children are going through since we moved to United State of America .
La Migra is a poem about two children a girl and a boy, who are playing a game about Mexicans crossing the American border. This poem is divided in two stanzas, because it expresses two different points of view; the girls point of view that is pretty much as the point of view an Hispanic or any immigrant would have, and the boys point of view that would be the point of view a racist border patrol or just anyone racist would have. Change in the point of view of the two children implies realism into the poem La Migra. The main point of this poem is to remind the reader about human feelings, and remind the reader about illegal immigration into the United States. Pat Mora uses Image, blank verse, and anaphora to develop her theme of immigration
The eternal endeavor of obtaining a realistic sense of selfhood is depicted for all struggling women of color in Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderlands/La Frontera” (1987). Anzaldua illustrates the oppressing realities of her world – one that sets limitations for the minority. Albeit the obvious restraints against the white majority (the physical borderland between the U.S. and Mexico), there is a constant and overwhelming emotional battle against the psychological “borderlands” instilled in Anzaldua as she desperately seeks recognition as an openly queer Mestiza woman. With being a Mestiza comes a lot of cultural stereotypes that more than often try to define ones’ role in the world – especially if you are those whom have privilege above the “others”.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people overcome physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where a neighbor with a pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall,?Something there is that doesn?t reflect love a wall?
I read the poem “La Migra ” by Pat Mora. This poem is about two kids playing a game involving crossing the American border from Mexico. The poem started out playful as it was presented as a game and with childish language, but quickly turned into something more serious with the tone taken. One person played “La Migra” or the Border Patrol and the other played a Mexican maid/woman. The poem was split into two major parts and gave two totally different perspectives. When looking deeper into the message, the writer was trying to convey we can see that the border patrol was the United States and the Mexican woman was Mexico.
middle of paper ... ... Ultimately, we have two poems which can be compared on the grounds of their subject, but are poles apart regarding their message. The structure of these poems is not what would be typically expected from a war poem, but are structured on the basis of these typical structures in order to create some sense of familiarity.
Octavio past uses dark mysterious tones, and mood to capture the illusion of confusion. To Begin with “The Street” has dark tones and a mysterious mood, an example being the first and second stanza “Here is a long and silent street. I walk in blackness and I stumble and fall”. Secondly in 1962, Paz became Mexico’s ambassador to Indian and resigned six years. This event led him to become confused and alone, thus creating the confusion and lugubrious tone in “The Street”. Lastly Octavio Paz Uses words in “The Street” like “Silent Street, everything dark and door less, dry leaves, and nobody”. He uses words like this to give the poem a melancholy mood. The poem has a mysterious and mysterious mood to it, yet even though Paz does not use many literary devices in this poem it is still interesting and a great poem.