Leonard Adame Poem Analysis

D. Grandmother's Condition

E. Intellectual Nourishment

In Leonard Adame's poem "My Grandmother Would Rock Quietly and Hum," the speaker experiences both a reconnection and a loss as now mature he remembers memories of his grandmother. He reconnects with his heritage and youth, but he also recognizes a loss has occurred because he has become acculturated to mainstream society and has become distanced from his Latino origins. "My Grandmother" is actually a tribute poem in which the mature speaker can now reflect on the joyous memories of spending morning in his grandmother's house, despite the poverty-ridden environment. Adame uses a variety of poetics, from irony and sound to characterization and personification to pay tribute to his grandmother in this poem. In doing so, he recognizes that he has succeeded in mainstream society because of her sacrifices and the sacrifices of her father, who failed to achieve his dream, but he also recognizes that in his own achievement his heritage and those sacrifices are fading and in jeopardy of being forgotten.

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culture often see those who retain their cultural heritage and its traditions as somehow backward or ignorant. The speaker is showing here that he respects his grandmother's wisdom and insight, but he will never be able to achieve the same level of awareness regarding his ethnicity. Adame uses the organization of the poem to highlight the sacrifices made by his grandmother and her father. When he discusses the topics his grandmother used to share with him, the things are "strange" to him, because he is losing touch with his heritage and culture. Adame (463) sets off these topics with a colon and each one to its own line not only to show how significant these sacrifices are but also to reinforce he is becoming somehow set off from aspects of his Mexican heritage. As Adame (463) lists these topics: "Mexico / epidemics / relatives shot / her father's hopes / of this country / how they sank / with cement dust / to his insides." It is these aspects of his past and heritage that his grandmother and great grandfather endured which have allowed the speaker to become successful and fulfill his own hopes. He is now a poet and successful member of mainstream society. However, it is also these aspects that most closely connec

Category: Literature - L