Monday, 23 April: Pat Mora, “Elena” UA 11.

Reader: Tami Gilley

Pat Mora, b.1942

Pat Mora was born on January 19, 1942, in El Paso, Texas, but grew up speaking mostly Spanish at home, with the influence of her four grandparents who had come to Texas from Mexico in the early part of the century.' Mora received her B.A. in 1963 from Texas Western College and her M.A. from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967. Mora held teaching positions at the secondary and college levels. She was also the host of a radio show called "Voices: The Mexican-American in Perspective."' After her divorce in 1981, Mora left teaching and went on to write children's books and poetry, working diligently to maintain the pride and respect she felt should be invested into the preservation of Mexican-American literature.

Mora is the recipient of numerous awards, some of which include the Creative Writing Award from the National Association for Chicano Studies in 1983; Women Artists and Writers of the Southwest poetry award, 1984. She also received Southwest Book Awards from Border Regional Library for her collections of poetry--in 1985, for Chants, and in 1987, for Borders. In 1988, she was named to the El Paso Herald-Post Writers Hall of Fame.

Pat Mora has also been recognized for her activist stance when it comes to her determination to bring about the existence of a national day, set for April 30th, to be designated as Dia de Los Ninos, Dia de Los Libros (Children's Day, Book Day), to celebrate language and bilingual literacy.' Mora's efforts and successes have spurred the enthusiasm of institutions towards celebrating the diversity and the value of language and how it unites us through literature.

Objectives

5a.  To discover the power of poetry and fiction to help "others" hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience.

5c. To regard literacy as the primary code of modern existence

and a key or path to empowerment.

5e. To emphasize how all speakers and writers may use

common devices of human language to make poetry,

including narrative, poetic devices,  and figures of speech.

Questions

1. What could be the meaning of Mora including actual Spanish dialogue in her poem?

2.   What could be the reason that she locks herself in the bathroom to learn English?  Why does she not ask her children for help?

3.  Can anyone relate this poem to other pieces of literature that you have read?