Question

Read the excerpt from Pat Mora’s essay "The Leader in the Mirror."

I read them my poem "Immigrants.”

Immigrants

wrap their babies in the American flag,

feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie,

name them Bill and Daisy,

buy them blonde dolls that blink blue

eyes or a football and tiny cleats

before the baby can even walk,

speak to them in thick English,

hallo, babee, hallo,

whisper in Spanish or Polish

when the baby sleeps, whisper

in a dark parent bed, that dark

parent fear, "Will they like

our boy, our girl, our fine american

boy, our fine american girl?”

As a writer, I understand the value and necessity of
knowing my past, of keeping that door open.

Mora includes the poem in her speech to

entertain her audience with stories from her own childhood.
encourage her audience to remember their family history.
educate her audience about life in other countries.
persuade her audience to change political viewpoints.
Mark this and return

Answer 1

encourage her audience to remember their family history.

The poem highlights immigrants' ties to their native languages, traditions, and fears about passing those on, and the following line explicitly says she values “knowing my past, of keeping that door open.”