An oxymoron is a phrase or portmanteau which is composed of two words with differing, often opposing, meanings for the effect of novelty or complexity.
In this example, the words at odds with each other are "legal" and "alien." For something to be legal, it is acceptable or in compliance with the law. The term "legal" may also be used outside of its literal sense in reference to matters of the law. For something or...
An oxymoron is a phrase or portmanteau which is composed of two words with differing, often opposing, meanings for the effect of novelty or complexity.
In this example, the words at odds with each other are "legal" and "alien." For something to be legal, it is acceptable or in compliance with the law. The term "legal" may also be used outside of its literal sense in reference to matters of the law. For something or someone to be "alien," there are implications of foreignness and potentially unwelcome or illicit. Together, the terms "legal" and "alien" conjure up ideas about the legalities of being alien.
In her poetry, Pat Mora dwells on the complex issue of Mexican American identity. There is a common judgment in American culture that people of Hispanic or Latino descent, particularly those who are not fully assimilated into Anglo-American culture, are possibly illegal immigrants. The subject of the alien or unwelcome foreigner is a hot issue in American culture. Unfortunately, the complexity of this issue is often overlooked. The identities of Mexican Americans may be muddled up in hundreds of years of borders being moved and forced assimilation. What does it mean to Pat Mora to be a legal alien? To have been born on American soil with Mexican heritage and be misidentified as illegal? Or to have been born in Mexico and crossed into America and be granted citizenship? Or something else?
As you read through Pat Mora's work, consider the ways in which one may be a "legal alien."
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