Julia Alvarez “arrived in the United States at a time in history that was not very welcoming to people who were different.” Alvarez was stereotyped and hurt because of her ethnic background. Her tone emphasized the depressing nature of the situation and the disappointment of losing everything and the treatment receive in the USA. Her tone of depression and disappointment emphasizes the pain she experienced because of the judgment in America. As her essay comes to a close her tone shifts to hopeful and relaxed. Alvarez is accepted into America “through the wide doors of its literature.” Her introduction to literature allowed her to begin to feel accepted into society. Since Alvarez is accepted into society because of her assimilation through literature she becomes hopeful for her new prospect and relaxed to finally be understood. Overall, the tone shift from depressed and disappointed to hopeful and relaxed is significant because it emphasizes the central idea of mistreatment occurring within a new society and leads to acceptance with assimilation.…
Josie Mendez-Negrete’s novel, Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, is a very disturbing tale about brutal domestic abuse and incest. Negrete’s novel is an autobiography regarding experiences of incest in a working-class Mexican American family. It is Josie Mendez-Negrete’s story of how she, her siblings, and her mother survived years of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. “Las Hijas de Juan" is told chronologically, from the time Mendez-Negrete was a child until she was a young adult trying, along with the rest of her family, to come to terms with her father 's brutal legacy. It is a upsetting story of abuse and shame compounded by cultural and linguistic isolation and a system of patriarchy that devalues the experiences of women and girls. At the same time, "Las Hijas de Juan" is an inspirational tale, filled with strong women and hard-won solace found in traditional Mexican cooking, songs, and storytelling.…
Throughout the passage from the novel “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Veramonte’s the main character Estrella develops into a stronger girl. With the use of literary elements, the author was able to display this growth. Through this passage of “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Veramonte’s through the use of imagery and selection of detail we are able to observe Estrella’s growth into a strong girl.…
Dagoberto Gilb illuminates on a common dilemma that most immigrants coming into the United States face in the story “Romero’s Shirt”. That which is the often not talked about internal conflict that immigrants face when entering an extremely materialistic revolving country like America. Gilb demonstrates this dilemma through the character of Romero with a rather interesting plot that is elaborates with theme, character development, and heavy use of symbolism. When Romero loses his most prized possession; his shirt, he faces an internal conflict on whether or not it should matter to him. Romero finds himself realizing that he does not appreciate what should be most important to him, his family, and if he did, then the loss of his shirt would…
The film portrays Mariana, the female protagonist’s quick fall into poverty with her two young children. Over the course of a summer, Mariana loses her apartment and is homeless and desperate to take care of her children. Her husband’s friends effectively avoid her and leave her isolated with no knowledge of English or means to support herself. Mariana’s story is about the lack of support single immigrant women receive in terms of housing, health, childcare, and employment services. The film also shows the undue burden that Mariana’s children pose to her. Childcare almost always falls on the backs of women, especially immigrant women. Her children are precious to her, but she has a harder time finding employment because she cannot leave her young children alone. This time in their lives is a transformative moment for the…
In this village there was nothing to supplement the growing education Maria so desired and because of it she seeked better options. Her hope manifested into an American woman named Sandra Bearden, who offered Maria a proper education, as long a she became Bearden’s maid. This was an offer Maria could not refuse, with the chance to head to America, the land of plenty, she eagerly accepted. It was what then occurred after that no one could have predicted. Bearden “used violence and terror to squeeze work and obedience from [Maria]” (Bales 445).…
Enrique’s journey has taken him over 7 years to find his mother. Throughout his journey Enrique runs into trouble with authorities that take all his money and belongings, as well as thief’s who try to steal from migrants. Enrique cannot find trust in anyone because even if the authority are robbing migrants, then they can’t be trusted. This government issue is hanging on a thread while, the government is not doing anything to help the migrants find their place in the world. When Enrique is 5 years old, his mother Lourdes moves to America to find a job to send back home to her home town of Mexico so that Enrique is able to go to school, and eat better food. As he gets older, he starts to beg for his mother to come back and feels lonely without her presence. He sets off on his Journey towards America to find his mother, and in the process runs into trouble with the authorities as well as muggers who take migrant’s belongs for themselves. His journey to find his mother is a test of his will power, faith, luck, and persistency to continue to his goal. With gritty determination and will to be by this mother’s side, he continues his journey despite of him failing many times to cross the border to find his mother. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario represents the dedication, and persistence of a young boy longing to find his mother across the border of Mexico to the United States of…
The House On Mango Street and “ Only Daughter” both prove that being an Mexican- American women is a struggle. As Cisneros shows her first hand experience, and as well shows it through story telling. Yet without telling a biography and going straight to the point she shows emotion by using literary elements. Sandra Cisneros Chose to use metaphors and imagery to express the hard ships of being a Mexican- American women. If Sandra Cisneros did not use literary elements to show the lifestyle of a Mexican-American women, the points that she showed in both the texts would not have been as powerful as they were.…
Through Juana’s story, Reyna, impersonates the journey and struggles that many people have to endure to get to the United States so they can have a better life for them and their families. Juana’s main motivation to cross over to the other side is to find her father that “abandoned” her and her mother when she was still a little girl, but she is also driven by harsh living conditions, oppression by a corrupt government, and hunger. Throughout her youth in Mexico Juana encounters many problems, both emotional and physical and these later encourage her to look for a better life in the United States. When she is twelve she is left in charge taking care of her baby sister in a flooded house while her mother goes out and looks for her father who still hasn’t returned from work. The next day as her father wakes her, she sees that her sister is missing and the baby is found drowned in the depths of the water of her flooded house. Juana has to deal with the guilt of her sister’s death, causing her great emotional and physical pain. As if things were not bad enough, this is not the only thing that Juana has to endure throughout her youth. After her sister’s death, her father leaves for “el otro lado” in search of work, leaving behind the debt of her sister’s funeral. No money…
Clemencia’s mother is then presented as being unable to identify with either of the two roles that could be prescribed to her, i.e. to be either a “real Mexican woman” or a “real American woman.” In this part of the story, Cisneros recounts all shortcomings which interfere with the mother’s attempts to identify with either the Mexican or the American…
Cisneros's early life provided many experiences she would later draw on as a writer: “born in Chicago, the child of a Mexican father and a Mexican American mother, Cisneros spent parts of her childhood in Texas and Mexico (1130).” Cisneros's work deals with the formation of Chicana identity, exploring the challenges of finding herself caught between Mexican and American cultures, facing the misogynist attitudes present in both these cultures, and experiencing poverty. For her insightful social critique and powerful prose style, Cisneros has achieved recognition far beyond Chicano and Latino communities. Using her position as an educator and writer, she began “to champion Chicana feminism, especially as this movement combines cultural issues with women’s concerns (1131)”. In Woman Hollering Creek, Cisneros “cultivates a sense of warmth and naïve humor for her protagonists, qualities that are evident in introductory parts (1130).” This short story collection deals with the issues that young women faced. “What remains constant is the author’s view that by romanticizing sexual relations women cooperate with a male view that can be oppressive, even physically destructive…Ciseneros is ‘caught between here and there’. Yet ‘here’ and ‘there’ are not as dichotomous as young versus old, female versus male, or Mexico versus the United States (1130).”…
Edwidge Danticat's novel, The Farming of Bones is an epic portrayal of the relationship between Haitians and Dominicans under the rule of Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo leading up to the Slaughter of 1937. The novel revolves around a few main concepts, these being birth, death, identity, and place and displacement. Each of the aspects is represented by an inanimate object. Water, dreams, twins, and masks make up these representations. Symbolism is consistent throughout the novel and gives the clearly stated and unsophisticated language a deeper more complex meaning. While on the surface the novel is an easy read, the symbolism which is prominent throughout the novel complicates the audience's interpretation. The reader is left to look beyond the language and uncover the underlying themes of the novel. Through symbolism Danticat is able to use inanimate objects to represent each of her character's more deeply rooted problems. In order to prove this theory true, I will thoroughly examine the aforementioned symbolic devices and provide a clear interpretation of their significance in the novel.…
The identity of the Hispanic woman has been molded by social standards, in the United States and in Latin America, to fit an image of a small, indigenous woman hustling to provide for her family inside and outside this economically poor household. These images and symbols that the Latina woman has had to deal with have been transferred into the social and educational sphere, limiting her opportunities. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza she discusses the various elements of her life up to adulthood and the adversities she had to overcome because of being an educated, gay Latina. Her journey is highlighted through the historical and the mythical in ways that the Hispanic culture has identified themselves with for many generations. Within the Hispanic culture, there are hundreds of different ethnicities that speak the Spanish tongue but are separated through practice of discreet customs that a specific culture identifies themselves with.…
In Latin American culture, like in many areas, the people are heavily affected by the development in the countries where they live. Oftentimes, especially in this specific region in the world, many countries are underdeveloped when compared to other countries. Nicaragua is no exception. Claribel Alegría, a Nicaraguan-born author, unsurprisingly writes using themes often found in developing countries because of poverty, high death rates, and lack of rights. Unsurprisingly, Claribel Alegría uses literary elements and devices to address themes of death, agriculture, and hopelessness.…
Mrs. Rojas, the main Mexican teacher in the town, was known to be the meanest and strictest instructor in school, yet Rose thought otherwise. Mrs. Rojas constantly attempted to incorporate Spanish society in her lessons. She would regularly educate children regarding Mexican history, literature, and art, which were frequently fused into educational modules. Despite the fact that Mrs. Rojas was not a good example in Rose's life, she got to be somebody more than that. She helped Rose realize something: “The seeds of self-worth, acceptance, and pride in who I was were planted so subtly that I didn’t even realize they were growing until many years later, when I found them rooted inside me” (86).…