My Tongue Is Divided Into Two By Naomi Shahab Summary
Immigrants have been going through rough times for many years. It comes down to the point where it’s just shocking. Like in the poem “My Uncles’ Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shahab, and “My Tongue Is Divided into Two” by Quique Aviles, there are two people who are immigrants and that go through rough times trying to fit in with the world. Even though it is in two different perspectives you can tell that life for them as an immigrant isn’t to flattering and is very difficult. To begin with, “My Uncles’ Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shahab has two perspectives, an uncle and a niece, it really shows you how a man had moved from his own country to America. And how it has favorite coffee shop. This man has found a way to show the positive side
of everything. But, as the niece realizes he being treated like an ordinary immigrant would be treated. From the word choice in the poem you can see that there is a big difference. The poem goes form positive to negative. From the niece’s perspective, you can tell she understands a lot. For example, in stanza 14-27, it states “My uncle wore a white shirt every day of his life. He raised his hand against the roaring ocean and the television full of lies. He shook his head back and forth from one country to the other and his ticket grew longer. Immigrants had double and nothing all at once. Immigrants drove the taxis, sold the beer and Cokes. When he found one note that rang true, he sang it over and over inside. Coffee, honey. His eyes roamed the couples at other booths, their loose banter, and casual clothes. But he never became them.” As you can see the uncle isn’t really seeing or understanding how the people are misleading everything and the niece sees that and she’s kind of astonished. To continue with, “My Tongue is Divided into Two” by Quique Aviles you can see how a man is having just the hardest time getting used to speaking another language he doesn’t understand. And how the words feel funny in his mouth. When you observe the speakers perspective on this you can tell that coming from somewhere else not knowing how to speak that language is something that is very difficult and how it’s kind of uncomfortable knowing you can’t understand it or speak it at all. Like stated stanza 7-11 it states, “My tongue is divided into two heave accents bits of confusion into miracles and accidents saying things that hurt the heart drowning inn a language that lives, jumps, and translates.” You can obviously see that it’s not really easy for him to speak, but it’s like a challenge and he enjoys that challenge very much. To conclude this being an immigrant is too much of an easy thing. And trying to get people to understand you and know it’s not easy for you is very difficult. But Like in the poem “My Uncles’ Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shahab, and “My Tongue Is Divided into Two” by Quique Aviles, there are two people who are immigrants and that go through rough times trying to fit in with the world. But, as you can see they try to make it a positive vibe instead of making it a negative impact on being an immigrant and learning to speak and understand the language.
of everything. But, as the niece realizes he being treated like an ordinary immigrant would be treated. From the word choice in the poem you can see that there is a big difference. The poem goes form positive to negative. From the niece’s perspective, you can tell she understands a lot. For example, in stanza 14-27, it states “My uncle wore a white shirt every day of his life. He raised his hand against the roaring ocean and the television full of lies. He shook his head back and forth from one country to the other and his ticket grew longer. Immigrants had double and nothing all at once. Immigrants drove the taxis, sold the beer and Cokes. When he found one note that rang true, he sang it over and over inside. Coffee, honey. His eyes roamed the couples at other booths, their loose banter, and casual clothes. But he never became them.” As you can see the uncle isn’t really seeing or understanding how the people are misleading everything and the niece sees that and she’s kind of astonished. To continue with, “My Tongue is Divided into Two” by Quique Aviles you can see how a man is having just the hardest time getting used to speaking another language he doesn’t understand. And how the words feel funny in his mouth. When you observe the speakers perspective on this you can tell that coming from somewhere else not knowing how to speak that language is something that is very difficult and how it’s kind of uncomfortable knowing you can’t understand it or speak it at all. Like stated stanza 7-11 it states, “My tongue is divided into two heave accents bits of confusion into miracles and accidents saying things that hurt the heart drowning inn a language that lives, jumps, and translates.” You can obviously see that it’s not really easy for him to speak, but it’s like a challenge and he enjoys that challenge very much. To conclude this being an immigrant is too much of an easy thing. And trying to get people to understand you and know it’s not easy for you is very difficult. But Like in the poem “My Uncles’ Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shahab, and “My Tongue Is Divided into Two” by Quique Aviles, there are two people who are immigrants and that go through rough times trying to fit in with the world. But, as you can see they try to make it a positive vibe instead of making it a negative impact on being an immigrant and learning to speak and understand the language.