Analysis of the Underlying Themes in the Poem Immigrants by Pat Mora
There are three underlying themes in the poem by Pat Mora entitled "Immigrants". The poem's main purpose is to convey what immigrants experience as they attempt to settle down into their new lives in America. The first theme has to do with the process of assimilation that immigrants try to have their families undergo through here. The second theme has to do with immigrants attempting to retain parts of their old cultures in their new homes. Finally, the third theme has to do with the anxiety immigrants often feel over whether or not their children will be recognized as American citizens.Mora's most dominant theme within the poem has to do with how immigrants attempt to openly assimilate their families, particularly their children, into American society. Many instances of assimilation are mentioned here, beginning with the figurative meaning behind wrapping babies in the American flag. In order to succ
The third and final theme within the poem has to do with the anxiety felt by immigrants over whether their children will be accepted as full-fledged American citizens or not by the greater society. This is demonstrated by the line in which it is stated, "will they like our boy, our girl, our fine American boy, our fine American girl?" This fear is thought to exist despite the fact that the immigrants had done all they could to turn their children into American citizens. The parallelism that exists here is found in the similarity of phrases; the parallel phrases "our boy, our girl" and "our fine American boy, our fine American girl" are similar in that they both refer to individuals. essfully turn their babies into full-fledged American citizens, they have them adapt to various aspects of its culture. They have them eat American foods, give them popular American names, buy them well-known America
Some common words found in the essay are:
Pat Mora, Spanish Polish, Bill Daisy, american citizens, fine american, , theme poem, speak thick english, american boy fine, boy girl fine, fine american boy, try families, children american, theme immigrants, boy girl, dominant theme, spanish polish, american boy, girl fine american,
Approximate Word count = 611
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)
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