Voices of Modern Culture

Activity 1.10continuedWhat Gives Writing a Voice?Use these questions to guideyour reading of the poem.P o e t r y• What are the voices of thespeaker? Highlight linesthat indicate the speaker’sidentities.• How does diction showidentity? Highlight examples.• Who is the audience?• What is the author’spurpose?A b o u t t h e A u t h o rPat Mora is a poet, writer, and social activist whoseworks explore issues of heritage and social inequality.An avid traveler, Mora wrote Communion (1991) abouther experiences traveling in Cuba, India, and Pakistan.A year later, she published her first children’s book abouta beloved aunt who taught her to appreciate her ownMexican-American heritage.• What is the speaker’sattitude or tone? Markthe text to show textualevidence.&Grammar UsageEvery writer has a uniquevoice. It is achieved inpart through word choiceand syntax. Poet Pat Morademonstrates a distinctvoice in “Legal Alien”by mixing English andSpanish and repeating thephrase able to . . . in lines2, 4, and 6. She sets upa parallel series with theverb able followed by aninfinitive:able to slip …, able tosit …, able to order …Ask yourself how yourown choices of words andphrases help express yourunique voice.5101520by Pat MoraBi-lingual, Bi-cultural,able to slip from “How’s life?”to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”able to sit in a paneled officedrafting memos in smooth English,able to order in fluent Spanishat a Mexican restaurant,American but hyphenated,viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,perhaps inferior, definitely different,viewed by Mexicans as alien,(their eyes say, “You may speakSpanish but you’re not like me”)an American to Mexicansa Mexican to Americansa handy tokensliding back and forthbetween the fringes of both worldsby smilingby masking the discomfortof being pre-judgedBi-laterally.© 2011 College Board. All rights reserved.30 SpringBoard® English Textual Power Level 5