Tone "Elena" by Pat Mora

There is a huge shift in tone when the mother reminisces on the past when her children would speak Spanish to hear, and they shared a common cultural connection. However we see that when the mother refers to her children's current state, and their disconnection from her the tone is more harsh and less figurative. The shift in tone is used to express the depression/sadness the mother is feeling now that her children do not speak Spanish anymore, and that she is now the outsider. We can tell that the mother is no longer proud of her children and that she wants to be a part of their "American" circle but she is too tied down to her roots to enable herself to do so.