In Julia Alvarez’s “Bilingual Sestina” demonstrates the difficulty in being bilingual and having to adapt to a whole new language or culture. To get this point across Julia Alvarez structures her poem in a sestina pattern, however giving her own spin off to it by incorporating Spanish words.
In order for the message to be understood, Julia Alvarez places the audience in her shoes in order to recognize the difficulty of having English as a second language. Although most of the poem is English, there are a couple of Spanish words. This leaves the audience to feel lost or as if she is not getting the full message. Ironically that is how many bilingual people may feel when they are still learning a new language.
Although it is not directly stated in the poem there is a shift in the time setting from early childhood to current time. At the beginning of the poem the setting is placed in Julia’s childhood where Spanish was the norm. Slowly the poem transitions into the English culture where Julia seems to lose a part of culture. Along with a shift in setting there is also a shift in the tone. In Julia’s childhood everything seemed content and delightful, however when being forced to be part of a totally different culture the tone went completely …show more content…
One can feel and confident when reading in the language that is most familiar. For Julia Spanish is comforting as she describes it as being “...sounds of spanish wash over me like warm island water” (lines 7-8). This simile shows how its more welcoming with the Spanish language as it reminds her of her childhood home that she grew up in. The opening and closing of her childhood culture can also be represented through the opening and closing of her window. Closing the window would represent letting go of her culture while at the same time becoming part of a new
In order for the message to be understood, Julia Alvarez places the audience in her shoes in order to recognize the difficulty of having English as a second language. Although most of the poem is English, there are a couple of Spanish words. This leaves the audience to feel lost or as if she is not getting the full message. Ironically that is how many bilingual people may feel when they are still learning a new language.
Although it is not directly stated in the poem there is a shift in the time setting from early childhood to current time. At the beginning of the poem the setting is placed in Julia’s childhood where Spanish was the norm. Slowly the poem transitions into the English culture where Julia seems to lose a part of culture. Along with a shift in setting there is also a shift in the tone. In Julia’s childhood everything seemed content and delightful, however when being forced to be part of a totally different culture the tone went completely …show more content…
One can feel and confident when reading in the language that is most familiar. For Julia Spanish is comforting as she describes it as being “...sounds of spanish wash over me like warm island water” (lines 7-8). This simile shows how its more welcoming with the Spanish language as it reminds her of her childhood home that she grew up in. The opening and closing of her childhood culture can also be represented through the opening and closing of her window. Closing the window would represent letting go of her culture while at the same time becoming part of a new