How Does Cisneros Demonstrate This And How Can You Relate?
ELISA PANI
ENG 101-210
ESSAY #1
Self knowledge is crucial for individual and society. How does Cisneros demonstrate this, and how can you relate?
If you look in the Dictionary for the word self-knowledge it says, “self-knowledge is the knowledge or understanding of one's own capabilities, character, feelings, or motivations”. Many people find themselves in difficult situations all the time. Some don’t fight to overcome this, but some do. It is even more difficult when that happens to kids, because they don’t know what is happening or why.
But what young people have, is hope. Finding themselves fighting alone, allows them to know themselves, to know what they are capable of, and they feel powerful, motivated. In Sandra Cisneros’s essay …show more content…
“Only Daughter”, the writer explains how hard was for her to be the only female child in a Mexican family of 6 brothers, and what she went through to become the person she is today.
Due to her brother’s refuse to play with her because of her gender, Sandra finds herself alone most of the time.
Being by herself allows her to have a lot of time to think, read, and write.
She has different expectations from everybody else and she has the time to prepare herself for what is coming next, for what she really wants.
Soon she has made her plans about enrolling in college. The hard part is telling her father about this decision. Even if she is almost sure that her father will approve, she finds out that the only reason he accepts her enrollment in college, is because he thinks is a good a way to find herself an husband.
Sandra tries to attract her father’s attention without any …show more content…
success.
At first, she is almost relieved because she can write without interruption, she can write where and what she wants, and she can even choose her major without worries because for her father, it doesn’t matter.
But in truth, she wants him to be aware of her writing, she wants to be notices by her father, she wants her father to interrupt her to see what she is doing.
Despite all her attempt and the refusal from his father, Sandra keeps addressing her work to him, making his interest almost as her only goal. She wants to make him proud, she writes for him even if he doesn't read English, even if she’s only his “daughter”.
Her father is her public, a public that has not interest in reading, but a public that she is trying to please.
Eventually Sandra graduates from college, and after some times she starts to achieve from her education. After ten years of writing professionally, she publishes a book that sells to a major New York publishing house. Sandra flies home for Christmas and after seeing her relatives she goes looking for her father. His situation is not very well considered he had a recent stroke and now passes almost all his time laying on the bed.
Sandra shows him the book and waits. Her father starts reading, muting the TV while Sandra is sitting at the edge of his bed waiting.
After a while, her father starts laughing at some passages, and finishes to read. He looks up at her daughter, the same daughter that for so long he “neglected” and asked her: “Where can we get more copies for the relatives?”
That was for Sandra the most wonderful moment of her life.
Self-knowledge is power, self-knowledge makes you strong.
Sandra has fought for all her life to reach what she really wanted. She hasn’t been put down from anything, but she kept going through her path, even if going against all her family’s opinion. Sandra has differenced herself in a world where she was supposed to be just a daughter, someone to be married to, nothing more.
She succeeded doing everything by herself, with so much strength no one can aspect from a very young person.
But even though she was almost rejected and left alone, Sandra doesn't give up, but keeps going with a energy she hasn't seen from anybody. She is fighting because she doesn't want to be a stereotype.
I remember when my father used to pretend from me that I went to college.
My dad was raised in a poor family of 11 that couldn't afford to pay his education. He grew up working really hard, finding himself on his own very soon. When I finished the high school, I decided to take a break from school and follow my old sister’s path, that is leave for the United States to work.
I remember very well my father disapproval for this. All those years spent in school and we gave up only so that we could go in another country to take care of “some kids”.
I felt really sad about this because I wanted him to be on my side, to be proud of me, but he kept telling me how I was wasting my time. He really wanted me to get educated and find a good job. Last Christmas, my parents came to visit in the United States to spend some time with me and my older sister. My father saw what was like to live in here by myself, how I was working really hard, all the responsibility I had, and how all this experience had changed me in a better way. He finally understood that I was growing, I was making new experiences and I was changing my life. We had a great time, and he kept telling me how proud was he of me and how happy seeing me like that made him
feel.
Once at the airport, we hugged each other, and for the 2nd time in my life, I saw my father crying. He started telling me again how proud he was, encouraging me to keep going and keep doing everything I was doing.
Now when we talk through the computer, I can see him looking at me in the camera with a big smile on his face eager to know what I am doing and how am I doing. Hard to explain his feelings, when I told him I was enrolling to college!!
Sandra shared her ideas with us, her struggles, and her success. She is reaching out for all those people that find themselves alone and in similar situations to the one she had.
Even if she doesn't write it, the essay keeps shouting the same words over and over: “Fight, find your passion and fight. Find what you really want and with some strength, you will achieve it.” This essay was very profound because there are people that have everything in life and they just sit around because they don’t need anything else. But there are other people in the world, that even if they don’t possess anything, even if they are not accepted, they find the courage to fight and keep fighting, until they get what they want.
“People who make contributions are those who have the courage of their convictions.”
ENG 101-210
ESSAY #1
Self knowledge is crucial for individual and society. How does Cisneros demonstrate this, and how can you relate?
If you look in the Dictionary for the word self-knowledge it says, “self-knowledge is the knowledge or understanding of one's own capabilities, character, feelings, or motivations”. Many people find themselves in difficult situations all the time. Some don’t fight to overcome this, but some do. It is even more difficult when that happens to kids, because they don’t know what is happening or why.
But what young people have, is hope. Finding themselves fighting alone, allows them to know themselves, to know what they are capable of, and they feel powerful, motivated. In Sandra Cisneros’s essay …show more content…
“Only Daughter”, the writer explains how hard was for her to be the only female child in a Mexican family of 6 brothers, and what she went through to become the person she is today.
Due to her brother’s refuse to play with her because of her gender, Sandra finds herself alone most of the time.
Being by herself allows her to have a lot of time to think, read, and write.
She has different expectations from everybody else and she has the time to prepare herself for what is coming next, for what she really wants.
Soon she has made her plans about enrolling in college. The hard part is telling her father about this decision. Even if she is almost sure that her father will approve, she finds out that the only reason he accepts her enrollment in college, is because he thinks is a good a way to find herself an husband.
Sandra tries to attract her father’s attention without any …show more content…
success.
At first, she is almost relieved because she can write without interruption, she can write where and what she wants, and she can even choose her major without worries because for her father, it doesn’t matter.
But in truth, she wants him to be aware of her writing, she wants to be notices by her father, she wants her father to interrupt her to see what she is doing.
Despite all her attempt and the refusal from his father, Sandra keeps addressing her work to him, making his interest almost as her only goal. She wants to make him proud, she writes for him even if he doesn't read English, even if she’s only his “daughter”.
Her father is her public, a public that has not interest in reading, but a public that she is trying to please.
Eventually Sandra graduates from college, and after some times she starts to achieve from her education. After ten years of writing professionally, she publishes a book that sells to a major New York publishing house. Sandra flies home for Christmas and after seeing her relatives she goes looking for her father. His situation is not very well considered he had a recent stroke and now passes almost all his time laying on the bed.
Sandra shows him the book and waits. Her father starts reading, muting the TV while Sandra is sitting at the edge of his bed waiting.
After a while, her father starts laughing at some passages, and finishes to read. He looks up at her daughter, the same daughter that for so long he “neglected” and asked her: “Where can we get more copies for the relatives?”
That was for Sandra the most wonderful moment of her life.
Self-knowledge is power, self-knowledge makes you strong.
Sandra has fought for all her life to reach what she really wanted. She hasn’t been put down from anything, but she kept going through her path, even if going against all her family’s opinion. Sandra has differenced herself in a world where she was supposed to be just a daughter, someone to be married to, nothing more.
She succeeded doing everything by herself, with so much strength no one can aspect from a very young person.
But even though she was almost rejected and left alone, Sandra doesn't give up, but keeps going with a energy she hasn't seen from anybody. She is fighting because she doesn't want to be a stereotype.
I remember when my father used to pretend from me that I went to college.
My dad was raised in a poor family of 11 that couldn't afford to pay his education. He grew up working really hard, finding himself on his own very soon. When I finished the high school, I decided to take a break from school and follow my old sister’s path, that is leave for the United States to work.
I remember very well my father disapproval for this. All those years spent in school and we gave up only so that we could go in another country to take care of “some kids”.
I felt really sad about this because I wanted him to be on my side, to be proud of me, but he kept telling me how I was wasting my time. He really wanted me to get educated and find a good job. Last Christmas, my parents came to visit in the United States to spend some time with me and my older sister. My father saw what was like to live in here by myself, how I was working really hard, all the responsibility I had, and how all this experience had changed me in a better way. He finally understood that I was growing, I was making new experiences and I was changing my life. We had a great time, and he kept telling me how proud was he of me and how happy seeing me like that made him
feel.
Once at the airport, we hugged each other, and for the 2nd time in my life, I saw my father crying. He started telling me again how proud he was, encouraging me to keep going and keep doing everything I was doing.
Now when we talk through the computer, I can see him looking at me in the camera with a big smile on his face eager to know what I am doing and how am I doing. Hard to explain his feelings, when I told him I was enrolling to college!!
Sandra shared her ideas with us, her struggles, and her success. She is reaching out for all those people that find themselves alone and in similar situations to the one she had.
Even if she doesn't write it, the essay keeps shouting the same words over and over: “Fight, find your passion and fight. Find what you really want and with some strength, you will achieve it.” This essay was very profound because there are people that have everything in life and they just sit around because they don’t need anything else. But there are other people in the world, that even if they don’t possess anything, even if they are not accepted, they find the courage to fight and keep fighting, until they get what they want.
“People who make contributions are those who have the courage of their convictions.”