In the poem Legal Alien by Pat Mora the author uses many literary devices such as personification, irony;

isolation, metaphor, and line break to portray a powerful message to society. This poem attempts to convey a message which can cause guilt and self reflection among Mexicans. The author wants Mexicans to understand that instead of exiling Mexican-Americans they should embrace them and come together as larger, stronger community. This poem is a self-portrait of how the author feels she is being judged as an outsider. Pat Moras poem can relate to the current situations with immigration and illegal residency. The poem is a description of how she struggles to fit in between two worlds. Her poem illustrates how she is a legal alien because she is a Mexican-American citizen. However, she is seen as inferior by the American community due to her appearance and among the Mexican community she is viewed as different. In this poem Pat Mora uses personification by giving the eyes human quality. Pat Mora uses the eyes to symbolize how people try to get across a message by only the look she illustrates. She describes how eyes can be more aggravating than words. This is shown on line 12-13 when she states "Their eyes say, you might speak Spanish but you're not like me." This quote demonstrated that even if the girl is Mexican-American, she will never be accepted as a full Mexican. She will always be criticized by everyone else for not being like other "Mexicans." Through personification the author is able to convey to the audience the idea of rejection. When a person is rejected the person tends to isolate themselves from the rest, causing depression, hatred and sadness. The author does a great job in using the eyes because they reveal how people criticize others or let them know they are unwelcome in their society. The use of a metaphor is also being used to show how she feels divided between two worlds and does not know how to find acceptance among both. The line "between the fringes of both worlds demonstrates how she is bicultural and bilingual and doesn't know where to stand. The two cultures she represents have made her feel like an outcast and unwanted. She feels

threatened and does not find herself fitting in anywhere. She is looking for acceptance, but instead is getting judgment. This poem does not seem to be discriminatory or prejudicial but by the end she expresses how she felt oppressed by others. In stanza 11 Mora uses irony to show how anyone can be racist and reject people even of there own kind it doesn't have to come only from a different race. "Viewed by Mexicans as alien" it would not be ironic to hear it from a white person but of her own people it is ironic. The author is viewed by Mexicans as an outsider and an alien. She does not fit with their culture she; however is seen as a lower rank that is not fully American either. Personification is used in a slightly different way. The author Pat Mora goes around throughout life with pain that no one sees, she uses a smile to hide it. This is shown in stanza 19 and 20 "By smiling by masking the discomfort." Pat Mora does not show what she feels walking around with a smile on her face faking and feeling uncomfortable because both sides judge her. The author uses her own experiences and uses different ways to get the message across. She makes people see how it is ironic to be judged by your own kind and how she has to walk around thoughout her daily life faking she's happy with a smile on her face when reality is another. Not only does Pat Mora use irony in her poem to show how she felt but also uses isolation in stanza 1 and 22. The lines say that she has two different identities, cultures and languages to choose from. "Bi-Cultural, Bi-lingual and bi-laterally. This shows isolation because she is rejected and alone in this by both of the cultures she has no support. Paradox is also used she is seen by white as nothing. "Viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic" this demonstrates paradox. The author conveys a really special message to both Americans and Mexicans. She wants both sides to know how she feels when there is a growing gap between the two cultures and neither seems to want to accept the other. They judge her by through her appearnce, her language and her culture. Just because she is born in America or looks Mexican it doesn't mean she is

neither of them because white saw her as an "alien" while Mexicans saw her as an outsider or inferior.