The migrant experience is a contradiction itself where the desire to find a safer and better habitation is ultimately disowned with the absence of belonging and feeling at home. Peter Skrzynecki’s anthology titled ‘Immigrant Chronicle’ explores this idea, notably in the poems, ‘Migrant Hostel’ and ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’, in which he gives a further insight into the isolation and exclusion they encounter in their start of a new life. Yet it is through this challenge that migrants attempt to conquer their disconnection and learn to adapt to the mainstream of society in their own way. The distant association that migrants have with acceptance into a community can spark feelings of seclusion, humiliation and solitude.
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.
The essay will consider the poem 'Practising' by the poet Mary Howe. It will explore how this poem generates its meaning and focus by analysing its techniques, metaphorical construct and its treatment of memory. The poem can primarily be seen to be a poem of missed opportunity. In this way is comes to form, alongside other poems of Howe's a study about a certain kind of loss and the recuperative efforts of memory, alongside the certainty of the failure of this recuperation. The paper will begin by giving a context to the poem with regard to Howe's life and work and will then proceed to analyse it directly, drawing attention to how it can be seen to fulfil this thesis about its content and meaning.
Alienation is a state in which an individual experiences feelings associated to being an outsider or being isolated from society. It is the process whereby people become foreign to the world they are living in. Peter Skrzynecki’s poem “Migrant Hostel” expresses the story of thousands of migrants arriving in Australia after World War II and their lives in the crowded and ever-changing environment of migrant hostels. Throughout the poem Skrzynecki describes the isolation and the sense of not belonging that migrants feel when first arriving in a new country. In ‘No one kept count/of all the comings and goings’, the use of alliteration, specifically consonance is apparent.
One look 's back to find justification in childhood for the sins he 's committed in later life; to better recognize the cruelty inflicted onto others. But only appeasing the guilt and responsibility and blames the child within; without a father 's wisdom or a mother 's compassion: an orphan to himself. I was alone in this war, and out of everyone I have ever known; it was Rosemary 's absence that never left my side. What would she of thought of my actions? I took refuge in one of her bedtime poems to ease my
Dealing With Change Throughout the collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri, many characters have varying levels of success assimilating and accepting American customs. People face adapting to new cultures in various ways, which is reflected in the short stories “Mrs. Sen’s” and “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”, as Mrs. Sen completely isolates herself from society, opposed to Lilia’s family, that views America as an opportunity. Mrs. Sen is unable and unwilling to change the way she lives to fit the typical American lifestyle. During the short story, she makes many references to India and her former life.
Expectations from Immigrates “Notes of an Alien Son: Immigration Paradoxes” by Andrei Codrescu is a short essay about his mother who sacrifices her milieu when she emigrated from Romania to America. She has expectations for a better life and to gain freedoms she did not have in Romania. Codrescu begins his essay by detailing a paradox that not only affects his mother, but also other immigrants when they arrive in America. Family, culture, and a sense of community are things many immigrants have in their native countries, despite potentially living in deplorable conditions.
“Lisa's Ritual”, a poem, based on a true story, exposes how violence can happen anywhere, anytime and in real life. Throughout the reading there were numerous examples of how violence can occur anywhere. “Lisa’s Ritual” is a poem about a young girl named Lisa who is raped by her father and uses her room as her “safe space”. This poem is one example of many from the reading, where domestic violence, or any type of violence for that matter, can happen in places where you least expect it. Many people do not realize how common sexual violence and trafficking is in today's society.
Alienation is the process of feeling lonely due to someone 's lack of experience that separates them from society. As a result, characters in The Dubliners collection by James Joyce, such as “Araby” and “The Dead”, suffer from alienation. Joyce explores the feeling of being the “other” through its main character Araby from “Araby” and Gabriel Conroy from “The Dead”. Araby and Conroy are both very different from being young or old,uneducated or educated, and poor or wealthy. These characters show us in their story’s how doesn 't matter which lifestyle choice one makes because no matter what no one can escape from that one moment in your life where one feels as if they do not
In Julio Noboa Polcano’s poem “Identity” the speaker has very strong opinions about how he prefers to live his life. He classifies and compares two groups of people: those who are “flowers” and those who are “ugly weeds”. He would rather be a weed, but experience the freedom that comes with it, than being a flower “harnessed to a pot of dirt.”
Julia Alvarez, in her poem “’Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”, writes that poems do play a role in people’s lives. She supports her idea by using relateable examples of how poems might change someone’s life. Her first example is simple, poetry can entertain someone on long drives. This does not only aply to long dirves however, Alvarez uses this to show that poetry does not have to have a big influence on someone’s life, instead it can affect a person in the smallest of ways, such as entertainment. The second example describes poetry comforting someone after the loss of a loved one.
“Nikki-Rosa” Poem Analysis In the poem “Nikki- Rosa,” Nikki Giovanni writes with diction and imagery to prove that’s she had a happy childhood in spite of her family’s hardships. Giovanni creates a poem, that although short in words, provides a lasting effect on the reader. Giovanni’s creative use of language and descriptive words, the distinction of black culture from white culture, and memories of average times that made her childhood unique and happy made this poem distinct and exceptional. Giovanni frequently references to her happy childhood in her poem using words and phrases that create an image in your mind showing you that her childhood was in fact a happy one.
José Martí was a brilliant 19th century writer, poet, political and revolutionary leader, and Cuban intellectual; however, above all else, José Martí was a proud Cuban citizen. Though born to two Spanish parents, Martí never waivered in his identity as a son of Cuba, and he would spend—and eventually give—his life fighting for the cause of Cuban independence. Martí loved his native country, and desired freedom and pride for all Cubans. Never was this more apparent, than in his poem, “Versos Sencillos” (Excerpts from Simple Verses). The resistance from oppression infused with Cuban patriotism prevalent in this piece, is central to Marti’s message and to the Cuban Revolution as a whole.
Rina Morooka Mr Valera Language Arts Compare and Contrast essay on “The poet’s obligation”, “When I have fears that I may cease to be”, and “In my craft of sullen art” The three poems, “The poet’s obligation” by Neruda, “when I have fears that I may cease to be” by Keats, and “In my craft of sullen art” by Thomas, all share the similarity that they describe poets’ relationships with their poems. However, the three speakers in the three poems shared different views on their poetry; the speaker in Neruda’s poem believes that his poems which were born out of him stored creativity to people who lead busy and tiring life, and are in need of creativity, while the speaker in Keats’ poem believes that his poems are like tools to write down what
“Incident” by Natasha Tretheway brings to life the horrors African Americans faced during the time the Ku Klux Klan was rampant in the United States. Fear and secretiveness was an everyday part of African American lives. They were unable to live like white Americans were due to the racism they faced. This poem, however, symbolizes the idea that life continues through the fear of it crumbling. The narrator is still alive to tell his or her story; therefore, this is evidence that life continues.
