Mexican-American Poet Pat Mora

Mexican- American author Pat Mora began writing in first grade but did not publish her work until she was grown and started her own family. She writes poetry, nonfiction, and children's books. All of Mora’s poems have certain traits that help determine what kind of style her writing is. In her poetry, Mora’s use of imagery and the comparison of cultures establish her unique style by maintaining the audience’s attention.

In “Immigrants” and “Sonrisas” by Pat Mora, she uses straightforward and sincere imagery to entertain the audience, also maintain her unique style. Immigrants has imagery which leads the reader to understand that “blonde dolls that blink blue eyes” (“Immigrants” 4-5) has a great meaning to the overall poem. The imagery used in this line helps the reader picture how the doll looks and come up with a thought about why the author added it. Sonrisas has sincere imagery as well when Mora describes the “women in crisp beige suits, quick beige smiles that

seldom sneak into their eyes” (“Sonrisas” 6-8) which brings much emphasis to the women themselves. Also, the imagery helps the reader comprehend the types of women being compared and the meaning of the overall message. The imagery that Mora uses helps highlight her style as a writer and also assists the reader to understand the poem as a whole.
In “Legal Alien” and “Immigrants”, Mora mainly establishes her unique style by comparing cultures in complete depth.

Legal alien explains about Bicultural people in a disrespectful/dark type of way, like “viewed by anglos as perhaps exotic” and “viewed by mexicans as aliens” (“Legal Alien” 9-11) which emphasizes that both view Bicultural people negatively. These comparisons highlight the fact that that both cultures think differently about each other and do not agree with each others views. Immigrants is from a point of view of hispanic parents trying to raise their child as american as possible like when they “wrap their [baby] in the American flag” (Immigrants 1). This poem is geared more to the side of the American way of life, since the parents do not want their child to grow up like they did. Mexican- American culture is a big part in Pat Mora’s writing. She decides to release important issues that most people are scared to share. Her view on these cultures is what shapes her unique writing

style.
Pat Mora maintains her unique style and the audience’s attention by using a significant amount of imagery and comparisons of cultures in great extent. The idea of cultures always have one thing in common, which is that the people a part of the culture are important, and Mora makes sure to make that clear in all her poems. She truly knows how to explain the importance of certain topics and is not afraid to speak her mind in her poems. The world itself should be aware of everyone else and not judge anyone by where they come from, but instead of who they are as a human being.