Sonrisas By Pat Mora Analysis

Two mexican-Americans both in distress.Frida Kahlo, a crippled painter born in Mexico, but eventually migrated to America with her husband Diego. Pat Mora, a poet born in texas but grew up in mexican culture.Kahlo and Mora both torn between Mexico and America. Both also expressed how they felt through different variations of art.Kahlo and Mora are more similar than they are different because of setting,mood, and conflict.

Tato Laviera, a great Puerto Rican poet, writes one of his most famous and prideful poems called "AmeRican" majorly composed of metaphors, where he dreams of a time when his people, the Puerto Ricans, can create, or how as he states in his poem "give birth" to a perfect race in which we live in peace and happiness; where all cultures are welcome because we ourselves are forged by various races and cultures, and we do not judge others by mere race. Hence, comes the name of “AmeRican”, because we can make the American society a better place. The main subjects that I will focus on are the meanings embedded in the poem discussing only the most important parts, the relationship of the American and Puerto Rican culture and the tension that lies between them. I will also focus on one of the main ideas of the author: a utopian society conveyed by Puerto Rican culture.

In “Puerto Rican Obituary” by Pedro Pietri, the author takes his readers on a journey of the oppressive life of a Puerto Rican immigrant. He describes a vicious cycle of stagnancy in which immigrants work endlessly without reward. Hopeful every day that the American dream they once imagined would come to fruition, but instead they are continually faced with trials and turmoil on every hand. Instead of uniting as a body to work towards greatness, the immigrants grow envious of each other, focusing on what they lack instead of the blessings that they currently attain. Contrary to the ideals of early immigrants, Pietri portrays Puerto Rico to be the homeland. The ideals of early immigrants have drastically changed throughout the development of America. Petri paints a completely different picture of America throughout his poem. Early immigrants describe an America that is welcoming, with endless opportunities, and a safe haven. Despite earlier depictions of the immigrant experience, these ideals are challenged because they weren’t integrated into society, were inadequately rewarded for hard work, and were disadvantaged due to their socioeconomic status.

     As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using

During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t the only one occurring. Struggling to assimilate into American culture, and suppressed by social injustices convicted by their Anglo counterparts, the Chicano movement was born. In the epic poem “I am Joaquin” written by Rodolfo Gonzales in 1969, we dive into what it means to be a Chicano. Through this poem, we see the struggles of the Chicano people portrayed by the narrator, in an attempt to grasp the American’s attention during the time of these movements. Hoping to shed light on the issues and struggles the Chicano population faced, Gonzales writes this epic in an attempt to strengthen the movement taking place, and to give Chicanos a sense of belonging and solidarity in this now

Pat Mora’s “Fences” deals with the timely issues of class division and privilege. She begins her poem on a positive note, saying “Mouths full of laughter,” which creates a safe and harmless tone; in the next line, Mora uses the Spanish word ‘turistas’ (tourist in English) to indicate possibly the ethnicity of the speaker. It is not until the last few lines of the poem, however, when the reader can also detect the class and likely status of the speaker, when the speaker’s mother says, “It’s their beach,” after seeing the speaker’s younger sister running across the sand where the affluent tourists are, thus opening the door for a Marxist reading of the poem. And at only 19 lines, “Fences” is a relatively short poem, but Mora’s use of

The poem “Mothers and Daughters” is written by Pat Mora. Pat Mora is a contemporary award winning writer, who writes for children, youngsters and adults. She was born in El Paso, TX in the year 1942. She attains a title of a Hispanic writer; however, the most of her poems are in English. In her literary work, one can observe the different aspects of the immigrants’ lives such as language issues, family relationships, immigrants’ experiences and cultural differences (1187).

The poem “Sonrisas”by Pat Mora is a known poem, about a bicultural woman who finds herself living in two separate worlds, she stands in the middle of a doorway because she can't seem to fit into either one of the worlds being a bicultural character. Pat Mora, the author, is a successful poet who was born in El Paso Texas, she grew up being the oldest of 4 children in a bicultural home. Pat was a former teacher, university administrator, museum director, and consultant. She's a popular writer who promotes creativity and individuality and also incorporates it in her writings. Mora uses metaphors, onomatopoeias, assurance, and imagery to describe

The poem “Sonrisas”, meaning smiles, tells about the many smiles that people wear in their daily lives. Mora gives two parts of this poem that explain the cultural differences in Mexican American’s work life and home life. It gives an insight on how Mexican customs differ with American customs, and how these individuals adjust to living two separate lives while trying to hold

Gary Soto attempts to make it understandable, in his short story “Like Mexicans,” that a person’s race is not what defines them completely. Soto married Carolyn, a Japanese woman, after having claimed that he would only marry a woman of Mexican descent. Soto’s best friend Scott highly disagreed with Soto’s decision in being with Carolyn. He felt Carolyn was too good for Soto, and therefore this false assumption brought Soto down and distorted his thoughts on race and economic status. The essay by Gary Soto was well-written because it can be highly relatable to one’s life, especially to someone who is of Hispanic descent.

Julia Alvarez is an acclaimed American-Dominican poet and author. She has written many successful books and poems, many of which reflect directly on her life and personal experiences. Because of Alvarez’s American-Dominican background, her poems display diverse, cultural themes. These include what it is like to be American and Dominican and the struggles of moving from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Alvarez has received praise for her ability to write a wide variety of styles, including poems, children's books, young adult novels, and essays. Her success, however, has come from her poetry collections, like Homecoming. These collections show her life in the Dominican Republic and her transition to the United States.

Gary’s Soto “Mexicans Begin Jogging,” describes an event that happened when he worked in a factory where illegal Mexican workers were employed. Although the poem is simple, Soto brings identity, ironic, drama, and imagery to his audience. The narrative reflects irony the speaker went through and the dilemma that Mexican Americans go through. The poems tone is ironic and not taking too seriously.

Currently Sandra Cisneros resides in San Antonio in a purple house and she describes herself as “nobody’s mother” and “nobody’s wife.” Both Frida Kahlo’s and Cynthia Y. Hernandez’s works convey the idea of having one’s culture limit one’s freedom and individuality. Cisneros and Esperanza are both victims of this idea and realize that the only way to live one’s life freely is to defy the roles and limitations created by one’s culture.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s sonnet, “I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed,” serves as an excellent example of a multi-faceted piece. From one angle, it is simply a Petrarchan sonnet, written with a slight variation on rhyme scheme – but that variation, taken deeper, reveals new layers of meaning. Added to Millay’s choice of meter and end-stop, along with a background of Millay’s person, this sonnet seems not so “simple” after all.

“American Sonnet to my Past and Future Assassin” by Terrance Hayes is a modern American sonnet that focuses on a black man, struggling to comprehend his place in society. The speaker of the poem illustrates his dilemma through comparisons to the respected black musicians of the twentieth century to whom he feels a strong connection to. The tone of the sonnet is one of contemplation, or even uncertainty, as the speaker outlines his thoughts in reluctance, questioning himself and his audience.