When I Was Puerto Rican Book Report
Introduction
Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican focuses on island life in the 1950s. In the immediate period leading up to the 1950s, Puerto Rico experienced a rapid change in the economic situation of the island. The island began to change from a primarily agricultural economy to one dominated by industry and commerce. Sugar plantations (owned by the wealthy and worked by the poor), cattle ranching, and subsistence-level agriculture gave way to a more urban style of living. In the 1930s, many people still lived in bohios, or small huts. During the 1940s, however, people on the island, mainly the rural poor fled to the city seeking work.
Santiago presents in this book her life in Puerto Rico until she was 13, were she grew up with many brothers and sisters, which end up being ten. During this time she lived with both of her parents which had a lot of marital problems and this caused a constant moving of places and houses. The author uses a lot of descriptions on how everything was, the material of the houses, the soil underneath, the animals, the myths that people believed in, and even a description on how to eat a guayaba (guava).
Esmeralda’s nickname is Negi and she has been called that since she was born, because she looked of colored skin. Negi is short for negrita, which means black skin. There is a lot of comparison between her and her siblings, Esmeralda being the oldest.
When Esmeralda was around 13 years old her mother starts considering moving to the United States in look of a dream of a better life. Esmeralda’s mother left her father with all of the kids and went to live to Brooklyn. The author describes the neiborhoods and how there was a difference between the Puerto Ricans that had been born there in Brooklyn and the newly arrived. Her mother found a new boyfriend that ends up with cancer and getting her pregnant, and there is still a constant moving to different apartments. They wrote to their father once in a while, who had remarried
Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican focuses on island life in the 1950s. In the immediate period leading up to the 1950s, Puerto Rico experienced a rapid change in the economic situation of the island. The island began to change from a primarily agricultural economy to one dominated by industry and commerce. Sugar plantations (owned by the wealthy and worked by the poor), cattle ranching, and subsistence-level agriculture gave way to a more urban style of living. In the 1930s, many people still lived in bohios, or small huts. During the 1940s, however, people on the island, mainly the rural poor fled to the city seeking work.
Santiago presents in this book her life in Puerto Rico until she was 13, were she grew up with many brothers and sisters, which end up being ten. During this time she lived with both of her parents which had a lot of marital problems and this caused a constant moving of places and houses. The author uses a lot of descriptions on how everything was, the material of the houses, the soil underneath, the animals, the myths that people believed in, and even a description on how to eat a guayaba (guava).
Esmeralda’s nickname is Negi and she has been called that since she was born, because she looked of colored skin. Negi is short for negrita, which means black skin. There is a lot of comparison between her and her siblings, Esmeralda being the oldest.
When Esmeralda was around 13 years old her mother starts considering moving to the United States in look of a dream of a better life. Esmeralda’s mother left her father with all of the kids and went to live to Brooklyn. The author describes the neiborhoods and how there was a difference between the Puerto Ricans that had been born there in Brooklyn and the newly arrived. Her mother found a new boyfriend that ends up with cancer and getting her pregnant, and there is still a constant moving to different apartments. They wrote to their father once in a while, who had remarried