Learning To

Love America

Shirley Geok-lin Lim

Repetition : “because”
Tone : Passionate/calm
Imagery : coastline, jacaranda
No capitalization
Alliteration : b-b-b
Type of poem : Ballad
SOUND DEVICES

Repetition Consonance
'because I say
'because' we rather
than
'b' they'

Alliteration
 4. Interpretation and theme
Theme: Learning to accept a new place
Stanza 1 America has diverse culture

There is a sense of security provided by America that the speaker can snuggle
Stanza 2
up to

Stanza 3 Shows how she has managed to integrate herself into a foreign culture

Stanza 4 The speaker has become part of the American way of life

Stanza 5 She begins to allow herself to indulge in American way of life

Stanza 6 She still practices Asian tradition which is walking barefoot in the house

Breastfeeding her child helps her to develop a strong psychological connection

Stanza 7 to her son and the foreign land. The son faces a deep identity crisis as seen
from the response “I don’t know” to question on his identity.
She compares her son to a country because her son is her family and he will
Stanza 8
bury her son when she dies later.

Stanza 9 She cannot possibly return to her origin

 Ballad
Types where the poet takes the
of reader on a journey through
a story, or event that has
poetry happened in their lives.