Internal Structure "Sonrisas"

This poem uses a lot of internal structure to emphasize on the vastness between the two cultures. I believe the narrator is stuck between choosing the traditional way of life and one she aspires to be in. The first door is a portal into a humdrum world of structured life, and the inability go apart from it. The women in this room "seldom smile", because they are unhappy living in this type of lifestyle. However the other room is filled with laughter and i can actually picture the vividness of their room compared to the other. The internal structure used by Pat Mora offers the reader insight into two different types of worlds, and she is stuck between choosing the un traditional world without structure, but happiness and one with structure but without happiness.


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Language "One Perfect Rose"

The language in this poem is descriptive as well as symbolic. The way the rose was described reminded me of an innocent love. The rose was "scented still wet with dew", and "having fragile leaves". However the narrator in this poem is not appreciative of this pure love, and wishes for a materialistic item. Instead of a perfect rose, she wishes for a "perfect limousine", and sarcastically states that it is just her lick to receive a "perfect rose".

Language "The Computation"

The author uses language in this poem to tell a story. I be live this poem is about a lingering spirit who is still obsessed with an earth bound object, stopping it from continuing on into the next life. For years this spirit has lived off hopes and past occurrences made by this earth bound object. This particular language shows the spirit as a longing one, it seeks to find the feelings that was once shared by it and the earth bound object. In the final line the spirit questions its actual being and states that this is not long life (which i presume to always be thought of as a happy one), but actually confesses to wanting to die.

Situation and Setting "To a daughter leaving home" by Linda Pastan

The situation and Setting in this story on tells a single story, but is symbolic of the daughters entire life span before leaving home. The narrator or parent in this poem tells the story of the daughter first learning to ride a bicycle. The parent was afraid that the daughter would loose balance and kept listening for the "thud" of her fall, but never heard it. She was expecting her to fall, or loose control (of her life), but it never happened. The narrator mentions running to catch up to the daughter as she rode her bicycle, but was never ableto because the daughter kept "pumping for her life". Both the Setting and Situation in this poem shows that the parent is certain that the daughter will be successful when she leaves home.

Situation and Setting "Daystar" by Rita Dove

The situation and Setting of this poem coincides perfectly to give off a certain perception and tone the author is trying to convey. We first see that the character in this poem is desperately seeking "alone time", to get her thoughts together and to be free from her children. The character can only go as far as her own garage, because she fears leaving her children alone. And the extent of her alone time cannot exceed her own home. The author seems to want the reader to think that the setting is boring to the character. Some days she may see a leaf, or a cricket, but never anything more interesting. The character wants to see more out of life, but is bound to her house, fulfilling her motherly duties.

Speaker "The Changeling" Judith Ortiz Cofer

The speaker in this poem obviously poses characteristics that shows she wants to branch off and discover/ be a part of things outside of the traditional view of "little girls". In desperation for her fathers attention she dresses up like Che' a figure representative of power and leadership, qualities that "shouldn't" be present in young girls. The speakers mother does not allow the girl to keep on the over sized clothes because she is still a huge part of the traditional view of women, and doesn't want her daughter ti stray away from it. The poem then ends with her saying "...and to return invisible as myself, to the real world of her kitchen". The speaker clearly detests the person her mother wants her to be, the mother feels like she should abide by her rules when she is in her kitchen /(when her mother is caring for her). The speaker wants to be more than just a little girl.

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.