ipl-logo

How Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Sparknotes

1048 Words5 Pages

Family builds a person to be the way they are today, without it every person would be ultimately a different person because family passes their beliefs and other things on from generation to generation. In the book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the reader follows a Dominican family with four girls that is forced to move to the U.S. Throughout being in the U.S. the four girls struggle with many things because of the difference in culture. The book talks about the struggles and transformations the girls go through as they adapt to their new lives in the United States. Along the way, each of the girls experiences something that is different from their culture that was passed on to them from generation to generation. The four girls struggle …show more content…

The way that the four girls dress is very traditional in Dominican Republic culture and changes once they move to the United States. In this case the book talks about how when Sofia got sent back to the island and her appearance changed. This is because she stayed with her aunts, they passed down the way a Dominican woman should look. This is mentioned when Yolanda says this “is a jangle of bangles and a cascade of beauty parlor curls held back on one side smartly by a big golf barrette. She has darkened her lashes with black mascara” (Alvarez 117). This illustrates that Dominican culture has been passed on from generation to generation. Before this point in the book Sofia has shifted to American culture but when she went back to the island she changed her appearance. Therefore when she was back on the island she shifted back to Dominican culture because she changed her appearance to look like what Dominican women are supposed to look like. In conclusion, one can see how the Dominican culture was passed on from generation to …show more content…

This is when Yolanda is talking about her dating life and a lot of men at her college wanted to sleep with her but she said no because it was against her beliefs and values as a person. As soon as she said no to all of the men that came up to her they became uninterested in talking to her. This shows a culture difference because in the D.R dating life is a lot different in which there are less guys that she comes across. This is shown through the book when Yolanda says “Why I couldn’t keep them interested was pretty simple: I wouldn’t sleep with them”(Alvarez 87). This illustrates that beliefs and values from her family have been passed on to her because she rejects all of the men that want her. She rejects the men because it goes against her beliefs and values which were passed to her. Her beliefs and values are a direct result of growing up with her family in the Dominican Republic. This evidence shows that the beliefs and values of Yolanda are different from beliefs in the U.S. Her beliefs and values have been passed down through the roots of her family and without it she would have different beliefs. In conclusion a reader can notice that beliefs and values can be passed on from generation to generation as seen in this part of the

Show More
Related
309 Words | 2 Pages

In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the characters are caught between their native homelands the Dominican Republic culture and their new found country the United States culture which is not the only factors in this novel. Yolanda, a character in the story the third child, encounters sexuality and freedom vs. religious beliefs raised as a Catholic no premarital sex. She also faces prejudice against their race, language barriers and in earlier years adjusting to a different economic status. It places her between the issues of understanding the English language and unwilling to commit to a sexual relationship with her boyfriend in college during the sixties social, sexual revelation. Although these conflict of Catholicism, heritage, and

Read More
934 Words | 4 Pages

Sebastian Luna is a doctor that works at a clinic that Juana is also employed at. Juana ends up dating Sebastian however she is unable to continue the relationship as she can only focus on finding her father. While Juana and Sebastian were dating, she was invited to an event with Sebastian’s family. At this even Juana sees a picture of Sebastian’s family which makes Juana think, “What wouldn’t she give to have a picture like that of her family?”

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

Women who are also known to have slept with other men are dishonored. Also as the girls get older the author shows them independent and successful, even with a man. Which shows that the Garcia girls aren’t just some ordinary family. The feud between men and women has being going on for hundreds of years with not one that is completely better than the other.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

Their relationship ended in frustration however because Yolanda refused to have sex with him for months. Sex which was seen as taboo in Dominican culture was a cultural norm in the 60’s for Americans. This clash of culture and Yolanda not truly being able to fit in with one specific culture ruined her chances at what could have been a wonderful relationship. Also when Yolanda returns to the island 20 years after her family originally moved she is teased by her aunts and cousins about the way she looks. “ You look terrible, too thin and the hair needs a cut.”

Read More
611 Words | 3 Pages

In Julia Alvarez’s book, How the Garcia Girl Lost Their Accents, the best literary theory to analyze the book with is Formalism, specifically looking at the recurrence of Yolonda feeling as if they don't belong, to demonstrate the greater immigrant experience during the time period. After Yolonda has lived in the United States for a while, she heads off on her own to college. She notices how her peers act differently than her, “...I cursed my immigrant origins. If only I too had been born in Connecticut or Virginia, I too would understand the jokes everyone was making in the last two digits of the year, 1969. I too would be having sex and smoking dope; I too would have suntanned parents who took me skiing in Colorado over Christmas break, and

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

Hence, after her mother found the bag of marijuana, she was given the chance to go back to the United States, not to her boarding school but to go to the nearest college and stay living with Laura and Carlos. “Fifi opted to stay. Better one dozen chaperoned cousins, she figured, than home alone with Mami and Papi breathing down her neck and Peter Pan with his hand on her ass.” (Alvarez, 202) Sofia had an ongoing dispute with her father because she was unable to control her sexuality. The father felt that part of his honor

Read More
827 Words | 4 Pages

One of the two books I read over the summer is How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez. This story took place in the late 1960s in the Dominican Republic. The four sisters Carla, Yolanda, Sandra, and Sofia learn to adjust in their new surroundings in New York after their family was forced to leave the Dominican Republic due to their father’s dilemma with the government. Throughout the book, the four sisters told stories that were very memorable to them. The second book that I read was October Sky, by Homer Hickam.

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

It appears as though his mother is the opposite of his father as his father likely encourages them to keep following their own path and working hand. While on the other hand, his mother reminisces about the past when her children didn’t have to worry or stress about any of that. Rodriguez shows how the idea of the American dream affected the quality family traditions. He does this by describing an experience while using language and details about different family members and even himself. Although different

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

Both Yolanda and Mari, seem to be unsure about these feelings of affection for each other, predominantly so when traditional ideology is very prevailing in the Latino community. One way in which the characters resist these traditional ideologies is by finding an old garage to create a space for themselves and each other. Later in the movie resistance look very unusual, especially when Mari and Yolanda begin to upset each other by flirting with male figures. This begins to bring distance in their relationship. Even though there is slight turmoil they continue to be together, which makes both of their families concerned, thus adding more fuel to the fire to the already distressing feeling between Yolanda and Mari.

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

Another instance where confusion arises is when he seems to be giving her the option of going with him to sell meat in Marquez, but it is unsure if she actually has a choice or not (1034, lines 42-46). These interaction arise the question of whether she actually is living the Yellow Woman myth or if she just wants to be Yellow Woman so desperately because it is familiar to her and she needs an excuse to be someone else and put the blame of her transgressions on this other

Read More
1896 Words | 8 Pages

Lead In: Cultural conflict in a family can lead to many events that can affect a child’s life. The child may become confused on what life to live or how to live it, especially when their goal is to ultimately make their parents proud. The child will also have a hard time growing up as he or she tries to figure out what path to choose regarding culture. Cultural conflict though, can make a person become stronger and give them a sense of being their own person II. Introduction Paragraph 2 Overview and Background

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

The first look into the culture is in the second stanza when the narrator talks about her brother and is followed by the imagery of her “change into his dungarees” (7). This is a tradition not solely rooted in just one culture, which is that men are the ones who participate in fighting and war. Women typically are not associated with such roles so the narrator feels that by dressing like a boy she can act like one. Another tradition explored in the poem is the use of historical figures and seeing them as larger than life figures. The girl sees this when she is “transformed into the legendary Ché” who was a major figure in the Cuban revolution (11).

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

The traditional Cuban family structure is patriarchal, a dominant male and a passive female is common, but mainly among older generations of family. The new family is more open to changes, education for all, especially women, was a big step in the participation of women in the workforce, gender equality, respect to marriage, divorce, household responsibilities, and decision-making. Cuban American women with acculturation were ready to join work outside the home and contribute, like men, to the social and economic growth of the family. Cubans, both on the island and Cuban Americans, the family, la familia, means support, strength, identity and heritage.

Read More
1221 Words | 5 Pages

As seen during her time at the school in Vienna, she took “some trims off the left and right,” “coated her hair with gel,” “added a thick line of eyeliner,” “and a few safety pins that were replaced by a scarf to soften the look” (190/1-8). By doing these few things, she has already done something that would never have been even allowed in public under the rule of the regime, including being able to wear makeup and short hair. Those were seen to be as “rebellious actions against the regime.” Yet even though she seemed to have changed into a modern western woman, when her boyfriend, Enrique, told her about a revolutionary party, it “reminded her of the commitment and the battles of her childhood,” in which they would dress up as leaders to “take over

Read More
320 Words | 2 Pages

In every family there is something special. The way we interact with our families is different from the way we act towards our peers. There is an unspoken language among the members of a family; whether it be hate, love, compassion or trust; you are always there for each other. [semicolon separating list of commas, bullet 2] A family has so much meaning to it—you cannot always see it, it is the feeling that you feel when around the ones whom you love.

Read More

More about How Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Sparknotes

Related Topics

Open Document