Poem Immigrants by Pat Mora Analytical Essay

Immigrants In the poem "Immigrants" by Pat Mora, the author tries to explain what immigrant parents and their children must live through to come into The United States and make their wishes of the American dream come true. She makes the reader understand the changes parents make into the baby's culture and ethnicity to be accepted in their new culture and change their babies' environment to surround them with American traditions. The author describes the worry that immigrants feel for the future of themselves and their families. In "Immigrants," parents Americanize their children through food, their names, and American traditions. First, Mora uses food as a symbol to Americanize immigrant babies. In her poem, the author states, "feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie" (Line 2). Apple pie and hot dogs are two of the famous symbols that represent the American culture. Hot dogs are made with a bun [brown] that symbolizes comfort and stability; this is one of the many reason’s immigrants come to the US; they are looking for a place where they can feel comfortable and stable. Hot dogs are filled with relish [green] that symbolizes renewal and health, mustard [yellow] that symbolizes hope and happiness, and ketchup [red] that represents power. Apple pie has two colors [brown and green] and is made with apples. Apples have seeds that symbolize fertility, and the apple's green color indicates good luck. That is what the immigrant feel that they need to start a new life in the US. The brown crust of the apple pie when it is cooked and ready to eat symbolizes stability. The parents want to feed their babies with American food to make them fertile, healthy, happy, and fill their lives with good luck, hoping that this is all they need to enter American culture. They try to make their children eat America. Second, the parents use names to Americanize their babies and fit them into society. The author states, "name them Bill and Daysi" (Line 3). Immigrant parents want to name their children Bill and Daysi because they are among the most common American society names. The name Daisy symbolizes a flower with two colors, white and yellow, white stands for purity, and yellow stands for happiness. The daisy flower also has seeds that symbolize fertility. This represents what the parents want for their daughters: a life filled with joy and leaving a heritage. The name Bill represents a dollar bill, the color of a bill is green, and green symbolizes money and adequate finances, hoping that by naming their sons Bill they will have an excellent economic life. Immigrant parents are willing to do all they can to make their children part of the new culture and think that naming their children with American names will help them fit into the US. Third, immigrants make a significant effort to surround their children in an environment that fulfills American traditions. "buy them blonde dolls that blink blue/ eyes or a football and tiny cleats/ before the baby can even walk" (Lines 4-6). Immigrants believe that you must have to be white with blonde hair and blue eyes to be considered an American citizen. When parents buy a blonde doll for their baby, it symbolizes the desperation to make their baby feel accepted into the American culture. The colors of a blonde doll are white that represents marriage, blue symbolizes harmony, and yellow symbolizes joy. They want their daughter to have a good marriage, enjoy life, and live in a place of peace. Football represents the American dream of becoming famous and wealthy. The football ball has two colors, white and brown, where white can be seen as a blank slate that symbolizes a new beginning, and brown symbolizes security. Immigrants want their sons to have a fresh start in life, which is why they leave their countries, and they want them to be safe through any step they take in life. In conclusion, Pat. Mora successfully portrays the Americanization of immigrant children through food, names, and American traditions. In the poem, she makes the reader understand all the difficulties first-generation immigrants live through to search for freedom and stability. She uses food to explain how immigrant parents change their culture from deep down by not eating their national foods and starting to eat American food. Naming their children with American names is how the author symbolizes the way parents want their kids to fit in and not suffer from all the difficulties they had to go through. At last, she states all the sacrifices parents make to surround their children with all kinds of American traditions to make them feel comfortable in America and make sure they do not feel left out. ANALYTICAL TEMPLATE/HANDOUT Symbol/o r small aspect of thesis 1 Hot Dog How many numbers are associated with the item? Significance ? 1 What about the colors? Significance ? Bun: brown: comfort and stability Relish: green: renewal and health. Mustard: yellow: hope and happiness. Ketchup: red: power 2 Apple Pie 1 Brown: stability Green: good luck Seeds: fertility Find a picture of the item and pay attention to the details. Put everythin g together as it relates to the overall thesis. Hot dogs are made with a bun [brown] that symbolize a comfort and stability, relish [green] symbolize renewal and health, mustard [yellow] hope and happiness, and ketchup [red] power Apple pie has two colors [brown and green] and is made with apples. Apples have seeds that symbolize Symbol/o r small aspect of thesis 3 America n Flag How many numbers are associated with the item? Significance ? What about the colors? Significance ? 1 Red: power White: peace Blue: security Find a picture of the item and pay attention to the details. Put everythin g together as it relates to the overall thesis. fertility, and the apple's green symbolize s good luck, the brown of the apple pie when is cooked and ready to eat symbolize s stability The American flag is a symbol of freedom and justice for all American citizens. The colors of the flag are red that represents power. White represents peace and blue that symbolize s security. How many numbers are associated with the item? Significance ? What about the colors? Significance ? 4 Bill 1 Green: money 5 Daysi 1 White: purity Symbol/o r small aspect of thesis Yellow: happiness Seeds: fertility Find a picture of the item and pay attention to the details. Put everythin g together as it relates to the overall thesis. The name Bill represents a dollar bill, the color of a bill is green, and green symbolize s money and good finance. The name Daisy symbolize s a flower with two colors, white and yellow, white stands for purity, and yellow stands for happiness. The flower daisy also has seeds that symbolize fertility. This represents what the Symbol/o r small aspect of thesis 6 Fotball ball How many numbers are associated with the item? Significance ? What about the colors? Significance ? 1 Brown : security White: new start Find a picture of the item and pay attention to the details. Put everythin g together as it relates to the overall thesis. parents want for their daughters is to be filled with happiness and leave a heritage The football ball has two colors, white and brown, where white can be seen as a blank slate that symbolize s a new beginning, and brown symbolize s security. Immigrant s want their son to have a fresh start in life, which is why they leave their countries, and they Symbol/o r small aspect of thesis How many numbers are associated with the item? Significance ? What about the colors? Significance ? Find a picture of the item and pay attention to the details. Put everythin g together as it relates to the overall thesis. want him to be secure of any step he takes in life.