Latina Poetry as an Expression of Cultural Heritage

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." I am not african. Africa is in me, but I cannot return. I am not taina. Taino is in me, but there is no way back. I am not European. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there. How does the repetition of the phrase "I am not" help to establish the author's tone?

It expresses a confidence in her identity of mixed heritage.

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." I am not african. Africa is in me, but I cannot return. I am not taina. Taino is in me, but there is no way back. I am not european. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there. What does this passage reveal about the speaker of the poem?

It shows that she embraces all parts of her heritage by refusing to be classified as one in particular.

What imagery from "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica" helps develop the woman who runs the bodega as a "mother figure" to people of various ages and cultures?

She is a woman typically found in any "family portrait."

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." An immigrant and the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. I speak English with passion: it's the tongue of my consciousness, a flashing knife blade of crystal, my tool, my craft.

She uses it naturally and with great skill because it is a part of her heritage.

Which excerpt from "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica" is an example of an allusion?

Suspiros, Merengues, the stale candy of everyone's childhood

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." I am of Latinoamerica, rooted in the history of my continent: I am from that body. In these two lines, the speaker is showing how

culture is embedded in a person's identity.

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." I am Caribena, island grown. Spanish is in my flesh, ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips: the language of garlic and mangoes, the singing in my poetry, the flying gestures of my hands. Based on the imagery in the passage, how does the speaker feel when she is speaking Spanish?

proud and expressive

Read the passage from "Child of the Americas." I am Caribena, island grown. Spanish is in my flesh, ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips: the language of garlic and mangoes, the singing in my poetry, the flying gestures of my hands. The words "garlic and mangoes" in this passage are

sensory images illustrating the speaker's island heritage.

Read the passage from "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica." all wanting the comfort of spoken Spanish, to gaze upon the family portrait of her plain wide face, her ample bosom resting on her plump arms, her look of maternal interest as they speak to her and each other of their dreams and their disillusions- The word choice in this passage describes

the commonality of shared feelings and experiences.

In the poem "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica," which description suggests that the speaker is fond of the shopkeeper?

the woman's look of maternal interest as others talk