ipl-logo

Alarcón's Poem Mexican Is Not A Noun

428 Words2 Pages

Alarcón's word choice for the poem “Mexican is Not a Noun” has distinct stanza form, with the word Mexican as a line by itself on the first two stanzas. This word choice allows the audience to realize how important the word Mexican is to the poem. Alarcón tries to get the reader to see the word is not a noun but more like a verb. The use of short lines provides the audience a clear meaning of what the poet is trying to represent by the short phrase (Greenberg, 2008). My thought is Alarcón is trying to portray that the Mexican woman has no control over what happens in their lives providing the word Mexican cannot be a noun or an adjective, but only an action which is a verb. The poem illustrates how the Mexican people are treated in their life. So, the word Mexican cannot describe a person only the way people are treated would be a verb. In the poem, Alarcón states “more than a word; a nail in the soul,” (Alarcón, 2002, 16-19). This again is showing an action and not describing a subject or noun. The poem is showing the audience that being Mexican is …show more content…

His use of hurts, points, dreams, offends, cries, moves, strikes and burns in the last two stanzas provides the audience a look into why the Mexican is hard life to live. Each of these words are an action of what Mexican life is daily. So, ending the poem with “just like a verb” provides how Mexican people are treated by society. No Mexican would choose these actions to happen to them, society regards Mexican people in this manner creating the reason why Alarcón uses the meaning of the poem Mexican is not a noun but really a verb. The negativity of how Mexican people are viewed by society is the basis of the poem. Finally, Alarcón’s structure of the poem provides the audience a view into the life of being a Mexican heritage in the current society of America and how hard it hurts to be

Show More
Related
1578 Words | 7 Pages

“Oranges,” “The Seventieth Year,” and “Avocado Lake,” showcase Soto’s ability to move a reader using an emotional story without the use of rhyme or rhythm. Through Soto’s poetry, he indicates the traits that define Mexican-American community

Read More
353 Words | 2 Pages

On the other hand, “Mexican Begin Jogging,” by Gary Soto it is not a demonstration of hope about the Latin costumes that have a place in American culture/society. Throughout the poem, the narrator explains how it feels to be stuck between two different worlds, and because of his Latin background; the speaker is not able to be part of his second home that is the USA. Moreover, the way of how Gary Soto’s narrator is living is complicated because of his Mexican nationality. Indeed, the narrator says “My boss waved for us to run” (line 5). The narrator is suffering because he is working in a factory where many of the people that work with him are illegal.

Read More
102 Words | 1 Pages

Gloria Anzaldúa, in the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” (1987), claims her experiences as a Chicano taught her that her culture was not looked at highly in comparison to the English language. Anzaldúa argues her view about her Chicano language by giving examples of both cultures Chicano Mexican and American cultures. Anzaldúa’s purpose is to inform her audience on how it is to grow up in a Chicano speaking family. Anzaldúa writes in a frustrating tone throughout the story of her life experiences. Thesis: Anzaldúa use of her personal experiences, and Music, Film and Literature are relevant sufficient and

Read More
510 Words | 3 Pages

La Migra is a poem written by Pat Mora about the Mexican - American immigration issue. It’s purpose is to acknowledge the emotions and sentiments of the Mexican immigrants who try to come to the United States illegally. The denotation of the poem’s title means immigration and the connotation is referring to the police officers standing at the Mexico-United States border. The poem is divided into two stanzas to acknowledge immigration through the different perspectives of the illegal immigrant and also through the eyes of the border police. The first stanza is through the perspective of the male border cop, who thinks his power and nonessential items make his superior to the immigrants.

Read More
1103 Words | 5 Pages

The text is important because not many people know the difficulties of being Mexican-American, especially when it comes to being themselves or the inner turmoil that comes with it; being Mexican-American means following traditions and speaking perfect Spanish, while at the same time having a grasp on American traditions and

Read More
1046 Words | 5 Pages

One of the area of conflict that rose in the book involves the usage of the English language in relation of the family’s native language, Spanish. As a Mexican-American raised in the States the exhibition of the English language, whether the use of the tongue is fluent or not, cause a strain in the Mexican culture as the culture takes in consideration of their romance and richness of history in their native tongue (Rothman 204). Language represent the supporting backbone of a person as the progress in life as the ability to communicate without misunderstands, however a person can cause the loss connection to the past romance of the culture and art of cultivation that brings the language to lifes from their inabilities to comprehend the ability/asset to its fullest potential (Rothman 204). To fully understand the true meaning behind a spoken chain of words can be understood by the method of trying to first comprehend the cultivation of the word and the definition behind them. Cisneros embeds the use of Spanish in fragments depicting a sense of reality within a fictional novel, Caramelo, as well with the use of interchangeable dialogues with spanish phrase to express the illustration of Celaya’s family and the culture in which is translate in of importance of pride.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

Rudolpho Anaya’s main claim in “ Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry” is censorship and how it affects chicano writers’ stories in this day and age. Rudolpho is a writer himself who tries to get other writers like his friend, to apply for a literary fellowship in the National Endowment of Arts. Rudolpho believes that chicano writers are being held back, emotionally and creatively with their essays. Anaya first presents his central idea when he writes, “ Censorship has affected me directly, and I have formed some ideas on this insidious activity.”.

Read More
955 Words | 4 Pages

Even though most people believe that the majority of poems express only emotions such as love, fear, and death, there are also poems from poets that exhort their voices through the poetry of protest who object against various social-political issues that took place during their generation (Ann & Charters, 1052). For example, Pat Mora is one person that speaks up about the issues that Latinos confront in the United States. For instance, in her poem of “Elena,” Mora mentions the difficulties that a monolingual person has to deal with when they have language barriers. In “Elena” Pat Mora describes a story of Elena, a mother, who feels that her Spanish is not sufficient.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet and essayist, is one of the many philosophers with a written piece regarding his understanding of Lo Mexicano. Paz’s “Sons of La Malinche” was first published in the Labyrinth of Solitude in 1950 and is a rather grim interpretation of the Mexican character, however, it captures the crisis of identity that Mexico was burdened with after the conquest. Paz uses the Spanish term “chingar,” (when literally translated means “to screw, to violate”) and its associated phrases to understand the conquest and the effect

Read More
1414 Words | 6 Pages

Many stories embody the cultural aspects of Mexican-Americans and their struggles with living in a discriminatory society. Stories like With

Read More
1045 Words | 5 Pages

Cofer addresses the cultural barriers and challenges that Latinos experience through emotional appeal, anecdotal imagery, parallelism and the use of effective periodic sentences. In her article, Cofer assesses the difficult cultural hurdles of Latin Americans with emotional appeal. She provides insight on her cultural barriers by first conveying the way she had to dress and her struggle, as it shows in this piece of text, “That morning I had organized… which to base my decision” (Cofer 5). This poignancy works to stress an agonizing feeling of uncertainty and restraint towards the author.

Read More
820 Words | 4 Pages

Plus, with them being undocumented, it was like they were invisible. Both poems talk about immigration where people from other countries would come the United States to change their lives because their country could not offer them a better future. Both poems had a representation of a light house. In Alabanza, it was the light house in Fajardo, which lights up the most wretched parts of the sea. That light helped immigrants find the right path of success, and it was the same for the Statue of Liberty because of the famous burning torch, giving immigrants to look at it.

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

To many people “I am Joaquin” is more than just an epic poem, it is the anthem of the Chicano movement which embodies our peoples struggles and culture. What made the work become the Chicano Movements anthem is the fact that it is a piece that seems to evaluate the Chicanos and their history from the good to the bad. It also seems to emphasize the Chicanos search and struggle for identity starting from the beginning of the Spanish conquest to our modern times. Basically this poem has become such an iconic work because it attempts and succeeds in encompassing as much Chicano history into it and makes no bias choice as it has both positive historical moments and negative, but they all tie back to Chicanos and their history. One of the main aspect that makes “I am Joaquin” an interesting piece of work and an icon for the Chicano movement is how the work seems to

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

All cultures have historical figures that it’s people look up to. For Hispanic American people the connection to their past is very important so remembering figures such as Ché is a way to keep roots with their culture. The last portion of traditions explored in this narrative is the inclusion of the phrase “para la libertad” which translates to for freedom and/or for liberty (17). Given the nature of this poem, it is interesting to note that the use of “la” denotes that libertad is feminine. The ways in which the poem explores traditions of Hispanic American culture is subtle, but definitely a theme

Read More
1749 Words | 7 Pages

This poem is about a Mexican-American speaker informing the reader about the struggles in which people from different ethnic backgrounds

Read More

More about Alarcón's Poem Mexican Is Not A Noun

Related Topics

Open Document