Read the excerpts from "Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry' and 'Speaking Arabic."
My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of
receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish,
English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry,
which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry.
At a neighborhood fair in Texas, somewhere between the German Oom-pah Sausage Stand and the Mexican
Gorditas booth, I overheard a young man say to his friend, "I wish I had a heritage. Sometimes I feel so lonely for
one." And the tall American trees were dangling their thick branches right down over his head.
Which best states how the structure of each excerpt supports a different tone?