Before Reading

Exile
Poem by Julia Alvarez

Crossing the Border

Poem by Joy Harjo

What makes you feel like

an OUTSIDER?
Have you ever felt separate from others, like you did not belong?
RL 4 Determine the figurative A sense of alienation can come from having a different ethnic
meanings of words and phrases background, being dressed differently, having different values,
as they are used in a text.
RL 10 Read and comprehend or other causes. Almost everyone has had such feelings at one time
poems. L 4c Consult reference or another.
materials to clarify the etymology
of a word.
QUICKWRITE Write a brief journal entry about a time
I felt alienate
when you felt alienated. Where were you, and what d when . . .
__ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ .
made you feel different from others? Did the others
intend to make you uncomfortable? What thoughts
ran through your mind, and what did you end up
doing? Exploring your own experience may help you
understand the speakers in the two following poems.

140
 Meet the Authors
text analysis: narrative poetry
A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. Like a short story, Julia Alvarez
it contains characters, setting, and a plot driven by conflict. born 1950
However, the narrative in a poem is much more condensed. American-Born Immigrant
The speaker begins to relate events immediately, without Julia Alvarez was born in New York City.
introducing himself or herself as a short story’s narrator might. Shortly after her birth her family returned
to their homeland, the Dominican Republic.
The story is developed through compact images instead of
At that time, it was ruled by Rafael Trujillo, a
lengthy description or passages of dialogue. Time may shift cruel dictator. The family was forced to flee
abruptly, without clear transitions. in 1960 after Julia’s father’s participation in
As you read “Exile” and “Crossing the Border,” prepare to a failed plot to overthrow
summarize the stories told in the poems. Ask these questions: Trujillo. They returned too
New York, where Alvarezz
• Who are the characters? had to adjust to a new
• What are the settings? language and way of
life. “A lot of what I have
e
• What conflicts do the characters face? worked through,” she
• How are the conflicts resolved? says, “has had to do with h
coming to this country
and losing a homeland
reading strategy: reading poetry and a culture.”
The following strategies can help you unlock the meaning of
the two poems in this lesson and other poetry you’ll read.
• You must read a poem slowly, line by line. Notice how the Joy Harjo
poem is structured. Lines are grouped in stanzas, comparable born 1951
to paragraphs in prose. Visualize the images in each stanza. Word Artist
• It is especially important to interpret figurative language in Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her
poetry. Often, words in poems communicate ideas beyond mother was part Cherokee, and her father
was a full-blooded Muskogee, or Creek.
their literal meaning. The speaker in “Exile,” for example,
Growing up, Harjo expected to become a
refers to herself as swimming but is not physically doing visual artist but later decided to devote
so. The key to understanding the poem is seeing what she herself to poetry. Harjo often
compares to swimming. writes about the clash
• Reading a poem aloud to yourself, to a partner, or in a small between Native American an
culture and the culture
group will help you identify the speaker of a poem. As you
of mainstream
read or listen to the poem, make inferences about gender, America. She has
age, ethnicity, and attitudes. Using a graphic like the one noted that native
shown, take notes about the speaker in each poem. women “constantly
bump up against
adult woman recalling images of Indians
a childhood experience that have nothing or
nearly nothing to do
Speaker with our lives.”
in
“Exile”

Authors Online
Go to thinkcentral.com. KEYWORD: HML10-141
Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook.

141
Exile JULIA ALVAREZ

Ciudad Trujillo,1 New York City, 1960

The night we fled the country, Papi, How do you interpret

you told me we were going to the beach, this surrealistic painting,
hurried me to get dressed along with the others, titled Utopie [Utopia]?
What connections can
while posted at a window, you looked out
you make between it and
the poem “Exile”?
5 at a curfew-darkened Ciudad Trujillo,
speaking in worried whispers to your brothers,
which car to take, who’d be willing to drive it,
what explanation to give should we be discovered . . .

On the way to the beach, you added, eyeing me.

10 The uncles fell in, chuckling phony chuckles,
What a good time she’ll have learning to swim!
Back in my sisters’ room Mami was packing

a hurried bag, allowing one toy apiece,

her red eyes belying her explanation:
15 a week at the beach so Papi can get some rest.
She dressed us in our best dresses, party shoes. a a NARRATIVE POETRY
Notice the place and time
of events. Who are the
Something was off, I knew, but I was young
people mentioned and
and didn’t think adult things could go wrong. what conflicts do they
So as we quietly filed out of the house face?
20 we wouldn’t see again for another decade,

I let myself lie back in the deep waters,

b READING POETRY
my arms out like Jesus’ on His cross, The speaker is not literally
and instead of sinking down as I’d always done, floating in water. What is
magically, that night, I could stay up, b she actually doing?

1. Ciudad Trujillo: the name of the capital of the Dominican Republic from
1936–1961, which the dictator Trujillo renamed after himself.

142 unit 1: plot, setting, and mood

Utopie (1999), Bob Lescaux. Oil on canvas, 81 cm × 65 cm. Private Collection. Photo © The Bridgeman Art Library.

25 floating out, past the driveway, past the gates,

in the black Ford, Papi grim at the wheel,
winding through back roads, stroke by difficult stroke,
out on the highway, heading toward the coast.

Past the checkpoint, we raced towards the airport,

30 my sisters crying when we turned before
the family beach house, Mami consoling,
there was a better surprise in store for us!

She couldn’t tell, though, until . . . until we were there.

But I had already swum ahead and guessed c NARRATIVE POETRY
35 some loss much larger than I understood, What new conflict does
more danger than the deep end of the pool. c the speaker recognize?

exile 143
 At the dark, deserted airport we waited.
All night in a fitful sleep, I swam.
At dawn the plane arrived, and as we boarded,
40 Papi, you turned, your eyes scanned the horizon

as if you were trying to sight a distant swimmer,

your hand frantically waving her back in,
for you knew as we stepped inside the cabin
that a part of both of us had been set adrift. d d READING POETRY
In what sense have the
speaker and her father
45 Weeks later, wandering our new city, hand in hand,
been “set adrift”?
you tried to explain the wonders: escalators
as moving belts; elevators: pulleys and ropes;
blond hair and blue eyes: a genetic code.

We stopped before a summery display window

50 at Macy’s, The World’s Largest Department Store,
to admire a family outfitted for the beach:
the handsome father, slim and sure of himself,

so unlike you, Papi, with your thick mustache,

your three-piece suit, your fedora hat, your accent.
55 And by his side a girl who looked like Heidi
in my storybook waded in colored plastic. e e NARRATIVE POETRY
Notice that the setting
has changed. What new
We stood awhile, marveling at America,
conflict does it present?
both of us trying hard to feel luckier
than we felt, both of us pointing out
60 the beach pails, the shovels, the sandcastles

no wave would ever topple, the red and blue boats.

And when we backed away, we saw our reflections
superimposed, big-eyed, dressed too formally
with all due respect as visitors to this country.

65 Or like, Papi, two swimmers looking down

f READING POETRY
at the quiet surface of our island waters, What ideas does this
seeing their faces right before plunging in, comparison to swimmers
eager, afraid, not yet sure of the outcome. f bring to mind?

144 unit 1: plot, setting, and mood

 crossing
the border
JOY HARJO
We looked the part. g g READING POETRY
It was past midnight, well into Read the first stanza
aloud. What do you learn
the weekend. Coming out of Detroit
about the speaker in the
into the Canada side, border guards poem?
5 and checks. We are asked, “Who are you Indians
and which side are you from?”
Barney answers in a broken English.
He talks this way to white people
not to us. “Our kids.”
10 My children are wrapped
and sleeping in the backseat.
He points with his lips to half-eyed
Richard in the front.
“That one, too.”
15 But Richard looks like he belongs
to no one, just sits there wild-haired
like a Menominee would.
“And my wife. . . .” Not true.
But hidden under the windshield
20 at the edge of this country
we feel immediately suspicious.
These questions and we don’t look
like we belong to either side.

“Any liquor or firearms?”

25 He should have asked that years ago
and we can’t help but laugh.
Kids stir around in the backseat
h NARRATIVE POETRY
but it is the border guard who is anxious. What is the conflict
He is looking for crimes, stray horses between the border guard
30 for which he has no apparent evidence. h and the Indians?

exile / crossing the border 145

 “Where are you going?”
Indians in an Indian car, trying
to find a Delaware powwow
that was barely mentioned in Milwaukee. L 4c
35 Northern singing in the northern sky.
Moon in a colder air. Language Coach
Etymologies Reread line
Not sure of the place but knowing the name
34. Milwaukee is a city
we ask, “Moravian Town?” in Southeast Wisconsin.
Its name means “good
The border guard thinks he might have land” in the native
40 the evidence. It pleases him. Algonquian language.
Look in a dictionary for
Past midnight. word origins of other
Stars out clear into Canada place names used in this
and he knows only to ask, poem: Detroit, Canada,
“Is it a bar?” Delaware, America.

45 Crossing the border into Canada,

i READING POETRY
we are silent. Lights and businesses What aspects of America
we drive toward could be America, too, might follow the Indians
following us into the north. i into the north?

Sport Utility Vehicle in Moonlight. Todd Davidson. © Todd

Davidson/Getty Images.

146 unit 1: plot, setting, and mood

After Reading

Comprehension
1. Recall In “Exile,” where do the adults tell the speaker that the family is RL 4 Determine the figurative
meanings of words and phrases as
going? they are used in a text. R 10 Read
and comprehend literature,
2. Clarify Where does the family actually go? including poems.

3. Recall In “Crossing the Border,” what border is the speaker trying to cross?
4. Clarify Why do the speaker and the others in the car want to cross the border?

Text Analysis
5. Analyze Narrative Poetry Using the following chart, analyze the narrative
elements present in “Exile” and “Crossing the Border.” Describe each element
in the appropriate box.

Characters Setting

Conflicts Resolution (?)

6. Interpret Figurative Language Think about the experience Alvarez compares

with swimming in “Exile.” How fitting is the comparison?
7. Make Inferences In “Crossing the Border,” how does the speaker feel after
crossing into Canada? Explain how you know.
8. Compare Speakers Use the graphics you created as you read to describe
the speaker in each poem. How do the speakers differ? How do they both
express alienation?
9. Evaluate Poetry Which poem more effectively tells a story? Which poem is
more successful at creating a mood? Support your answers with evidence.

reading-writing connection
writing prompt revising tip
Extended Constructed Response: If you wrote your
Story Passage response by hand,
How does a narrative poem differ from a short make sure your writing
story? Write three to five paragraphs of a short is legible. If you used
story based on one of the poems. Then, in two or a computer, be sure
three sentences, comment on what is lost in the to use an easy-to-read
translation to prose. font.

What makes you feel like an OUTSIDER?

How does alienation affect how people react to the world around them?

exile / crossing the border 147