In Julia Alvarez’s speech “Entre Lucas y Juan Mejia”, She start explaining the challenges we faced as an immigrant. She said, “As an immigrant, you leave behind an old world and enter into a new world in which the old ways no longer apply” (1). In my opinion as an immigrant I can related to this quote, because when I came to United States I felt that I entered in a completely new world. In which I had to start a new life with a different language and culture. Also, Julia Álvarez mentioned the challenges she had as a female writer in another country that has a different language.…
In How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, Julia Alvarez discusses the four girls’transition from the Dominican Republic to America. The Garcia’s are an immigrant family who must find a balance between their identity as Dominicans and their new identities as Americans. Yolanda, the sister on whom the story primarily focuses, must find a balance between the strict and old fashioned culture she comes from and the new, innovative and radical culture she is now learning to embrace. Immigration challenges Yolanda and her sisters to create a bi-cultural identity—a task at which they ultimately fail. They embark on a search to find themselves, feeling torn between two distinctly different and opposing…
“I am a child of the Americas…I am a U.S. Puerto Rican Jew… I am not Africa. Africa is in me… I am not European. Europe lives in me… I am new. History made me… I am whole,” (Morales). Morales’ use of repetition illustrates all of the different characteristics she feels in her life. By using “I am”, Morales shows how she actually is a child of the Americas and a U.S. Puerto Rican Jew, however, she uses “I am not” to explain how she is not Africa nor European, but she believes Africa and Europe are part of the person she has…
Eduardo was raised in a dangerous, impoverished, urban area by a single mother, and Maria came from a two parent, wealthy middle-class family. The difference in their education was that Eduardo attended public high school and Maria went to a private school. Eduardo’s mother was not well educated and communicated with her children in her native language, Spanish. Also, when attending college, Eduardo was listed as a “disadvantaged minority” student. Maria, being raised in a wealthy family, was able to attend a more prestigious high school, which taught her techniques to use in her college…
On the weekend while celebrating labor and my sister birthday party, we went back to my old hometown. While in Texas we were hungry driving around looking for a good place to go eat. We decided to go and try a Mexican restaurant located in Arlington Texas, where my friend Jose Reyes lives.…
I talked to my great grandmother, on my moms side, and asked her many questions about our ancestors. "Most of the generations I know about have lived in New Mexico. Usually when people ask us we say Spain because we know our ancestors didn't come from Mexico. I'd say Spain" she said word for word. I also asked her how long ago they came and she didn't know so I assume they came a long time ago.…
In this essay Barrientos argues that the language she speaks defines her identity and who she is as a person. As Barrientos was growing up, she realized being Latin-American was not what she wanted to be, she decided to didn’t want to speak Spanish, as Barrientos says, “To me, speaking Spanish translated into being poor.” She also said “It meant waiting tables and cleaning hotel rooms. It meant being poor.” She thought if she stayed away from Spanish stereotypes they would…
In “Hold the Mayonnaise” by Julia Alvarez and “I Remember Masa” by Jose Burciaga, the authors recreate the theme of Hispanic food and its influence in North American habits and customs. They reflect the relation between cultures based on the integration of two different identities. Mexican-American and Dominican-American traditions are exposed, creating a dual vision of life in North America.…
“When I was ten years old, my brother Miguel came back from the U.S. to visit us. When he was ready to leave, he told my mom, ‘Hey, are you going to let Kiko (which was my nickname) come to the U.S., so he can go to school and have an opportunity?’ and my mom turned to me and said, ‘Do you want to go with him?’ Then I looked at her and replied, ‘Do you want me to go?’ and she nodded in approval, so I went into the house, got a backpack, and put three pants, three shirts, and a few other things in there because I didn’t have many belongings. I then went back outside, jumped into the car, and left my mom. I didn’t see my mom again until I was a senior in high school, and a lot took place during those years” (Castellanos).…
One day, I was out with my family at a French bakery. As I opened the door, the sweet scent of baked goods entered my nostrils, an old man approached and he said thank you in a strong thick French accent. I asked the old man if he was French and he replied with “oui je suis français”( yes i'm French). I responded with “ Je ne suis pas français mais je peux parle français”( I'm not French but I can speak French) . His brown eyes widened and as his mouth slowly opened with shock, I gave him a small smile. He said he didn't expect to get a response in French and he asked if my parents were French I said no, my mom is from Mexico, so he asked how I knew French, then I explained that I take French in my high school. The old man said “Your French is excellent for you to not be a native speaker and you've developed the accent.”…
whEN I wAS FoUr YEArS oLd, I fell in love. It was not a transient…
Ethnic variety is one of the defining characteristics of the American people. The American people, however, define themselves based on their cultural background. Armando Rendón and Judith Ortiz Cofer are two writers with passionate perspectives on encroaching Anglo assimilation. Rendón reflects on his near loss and reclamation of cultural identity in his essay, “Kiss of Death,” while Cofer 's heritage is tested and strengthened through her encounters with Anglo judgment in her essay titled “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria.” In Rendón’s “Kiss of Death” and Cofer’s “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria,” Euro-centric America threatens to drain the color and life out of Latin American culture simply due to lack of understanding and tolerance.…
I come from a family of immigrants who came here for a better living standard unfortunately, while growing up I witnessed money problems in the household. They had to work long hours and I struggled to focus on my own potential. My parents couldn’t spend much time with me and my siblings dealing with our own problems especially in school. As a result, I had a lack of confidence because I wasn’t at the same level as the rest of other kids and struggled doing well in school. I hate to say I didn’t have a strong role model because even though my father was around, he was always worried about other things and once in awhile he would spend time with me. I started not to take school seriously and become more rebellious and would always get complaints…
Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban tells the story about three generations of a Cuban family and their different views provoked by the Cuban revolution. Though part of the same family, an outsider might classify them as adversaries judging by relationships between one another, the exiled family members, and the differentiations between political views. Although all of these central themes reoccur over and over throughout the narrative, family relationships lie at the heart of the tale. The relationships between these Cuban family members are for the most part ruptured by any or a combination of the above themes.…
It’s always on the back of my mind, and resurfaces to my thoughts when I’m in any social setting regarding Spanish—my second language. I am 3/4 Puerto Rican and 1/4 European, though my pigment carried from the European side, as I have the typical blonde hair and blue eyes. My father was born in Puerto Rico and my mother, although being born here, her mother was Czechoslovakian and Polish, my mother’s father was born in Puerto Rico much like my own father. It always boggles me why I don’t look more Spanish due to the more Spanish heritage I contain. When people see me, they only see my pigment—white. They don’t see the Spanish part, supposedly, until I tell them; then they give me a “Right” or “I see it now” as if they’ve known all along.…