Language
The language used by Michael Kamber in the article “Toil and Temptation” is generally simple, descriptive, and easy to understand. The article narrates events from the life of illegal immigrant Antonio and others like him, including various statistics and data about Mexican immigrants in the …
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Choice of words
The choice of words focuses on the daily life of Mexican immigrants and gives the article a local color by including Spanish words like: “Hechos Puebla” (l. 86), “Liga Mexicana de Beisból” (l. 111), “paisanos” (l. 139), “morenos” (l. 221), or “remesas” (l. 293). These words are usually italicized to highlight that they are not English words.
The writer uses words that generate both positive and negative images. The negative words typically help the writer convey the challenges and hardships …
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Sentence structure
The writer uses both short and long sentences in the article. Short sentences convey a concise idea and introduce a topic or a short conclusion: “He is never going back. He cannot. He is addicted to New York.” (ll. 425-426)
Longer sentences are descriptive, offering details through enumerations or additional explanations: “Antonio and Juan Carlos left before dawn, walking north along Westchester Avenue, past the candy store, restaurant, pizza parlor, real estate office, and bodega, each business owned by immigrants: Indians, Dominicans, Italians, Guyanese, and Puerto Ri…
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Tone
Michael Kamber combines different tones in the article. For example, when citing figures or statistics, his tone is serious and concerned: “Firm figures are hard to come by for a community that is largely illegal, but in the last decade, New York City’s Mexican population has grown between 300 and 600 percent…” (ll. 76-79)
Other times, the writer takes on a more light-hearted and even ironical tone: “…the mother of nine—who cannot read or write, but adds complex sums with lightning speed…” (ll. 310-311); “(So many Mexicans have left Puebla that they are called the Puebla York, in much the same way that New York City’s Puerto Ricans are referred to as Nuyoricans…” (…
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Personal stories
Apart from the story of Antonio and his brother Juan Carlos, the article includes a series of other case stories of different immigrants. For example, one such story presents other possible reasons why Mexicans immigrate to the US: “…the pitcher has come to help make money to pay for the son’s house, under construction in Zapotitlán. He has come, he says, because he wants his son home soon, ‘before he becomes Americanized.’ ” (ll. 121-125)
The story of Angel Flores helps illustrates how immigrants help their relatives back home to have access to education: “…he brags softly a…
