Alvarez and her family have a lot of trauma considering there lives in the dominican republic and living under the dictator,through it all alvarez's parents raised a daughter who would share their story in a fashionable matter that told the story how it was.
The author's attitude towards the boys in this novel is ignorant and emotional. This novel is composed of vignettes that show Esperanza learn about the true power of language and the struggle for self- definition. While befriending Sally, she learns more about boys and matures sexually. During the year, Esperanza develops her first crush and even endures sexual assault. From this, her first impression and ignorance over the topic of boys and having the thought process that girls and boys live in different worlds, awakens Esperanza and teaches her an important lesson and becomes to an eyeopening experience.
Audrey Petty uses “Late Night Chitlins with Momma” to express her own close bond with her mother and how it shaped her identity; this is expressed through the narrative style, the diction and syntax, the use of food as a metaphor, and the short story’s structure. Narratively this piece does an incredible job of making the reader feel personally invested in the story. The way Audrey Petty does this is through a multitude of techniques. The point of view is a first person omnipotent, allowing for a closer read to the narrator themselves; the narrative flow is akin to being told the story verbally instead of the traditional 3rd person omnipotence.
Nicolas Enriquez’s piece titled The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions depicts the Virgin mother Mary as she revealed herself to a newly transformed Christian Native named Juan Diego. This 1773 painting is a reproduction of the 1531believed arheiropoeita of Virgin Mary when she descends on Mount Tepeyac and tells Indian Juan Diego to go inform the bishop that a temple shall be built for her. The Virgin of Guadalupe is an iconic piece of Catholicism in Mexico and holds religious and cultural importance to both Spaniards and the Natives of Mexico, such as the Nahuatl. Enriquez’s painting has several deviations from the original arheiropoetia, such as different color choice and addition of Nahuatl symbols, which portrays his painting
(Karr, 196) Throughout the text the author quotes her father, and interacts with him through conversation. With her mother she notices specifics in her appearance more than anything; she spends time describing how her mother looks in a passage instead of the conversations she had with her. An example of this is when she is leaving her mother in Colorado, and returning to Texas to live with her father. She says she can’t remember anything during that period of time, “Any talk with Mother after Lecia’s call was siphoned from my head.” Shortly after the instance of lying to the narrator, her mother left on a trip to Mexico, to which she returned with another man who wasn't her father.
The first piece of artwork I critiqued was the famous Virgin of Guadalupe. The Virgin of Guadalupe is currently exhibited in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The piece of art is not solely a painting, but an enconchado. It was made into wood, and it essentially creates a reflective surface that appears as moving. Also, I like how they explain their theory on the woman of the apocalypse and how it relates to this piece of art.
Whether it comes from a memory that Cofer shares or a story that Mama tells, there is a hidden meaning for each story. At the beginning there is the story of Maria la loca, a women who was left at the alter by a man who lied and deceived her. The story was told by Mama while Cofer was a small child listening to the grownups talk. The story is told because Cofers’ Aunt Laura is going to get her wedding dress hemmed, but she does not even know if or when the wedding will take place. Mama describes the story in a way that catches each of the characters attention.
The Significance of Motherly Sacrifice Many people take the sacrifices that parents make for them for granted. Specifically, many mothers give up important aspects of their lives for their children. Khaled Hosseini, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns demonstrates the significance of motherly sacrifice in several different ways through Nana, Laila, and Mariam.
Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).
In the short stories we have read there have been numerous themes. The impact of tradition, the value of heritage, the importance of family, the divide between social classes, and the presence of love are all ideas that can be found in the stories we have read. Short stories have managed to encapture the importance and true meaning of life in just a few sentences by imposing on the readers themes we can all relate to. A common theme presented in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” is the power of knowledge and education. In “Everyday Use,” two sister Dee and Maggie have different views on how they should preserve and honor their heritage.
The stories “Abuela Invents the Zero” and “A Celebration of Grandfathers” follow the past of a very nice, thoughtful man by the name of Rudolfo Anaya, and the present day of a rude, unthoughtful girl by the name of Constancia. Both of these stories give very different points of views in terms of character personality and respect towards their elders. To begin, both of the stories are based off of the relationship between a grandparent and their grandchild. In “Abuela Invents the Zero”, Constancia’s grandmother went on her first trip to America. She went to America between September and March because the story explained that she wanted to see the snow in America before she died.
“We read it for months, so many times that the book became tattered and sweat stained, it lost its spine, came unearthed, sections fell apart […] but we loved it dearly” (68). Reading created joy between the girls, strengthening their friendship and their will to escape the encompassing darkness of the neighbourhood. Each moment spent reading in the courtyard was one where they could be children, creating an inseparable bond. There was no worry of the past becoming present, in fact, the book drove them to desire a better future. Little Women provided a luminosity from the injustices they suffered, like Lila’s inability to continue her education.
The Betrayal of Anney Boatwright in Bastard Out of Carolina Thrust into motherhood at the age of fourteen Anney Boatwright sets out to prove she is a good caring mother. Throughout a Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, she provides examples of Anney Boatwright as a loving mother of Reese and Bone, but then instances occur that show that might not be true. This essay will show that Anney Boatwright appears to love and care about her family, but fails as a mother because she lacks introspect, puts her daughters at risk, and abandons her family. Anney Boatwright shows time and time again that she lacks introspect, which repeatedly has a negative impact on her family. She marries Glen Waddell, who appears charming, but has a darker side.
The narrator is no longer able to determine the difference from reality from her illusions. Such as seeing the woman in the wallpaper move, which means that the narrator is the touch with reality and wishes to do what she wants. In addition, she also sees the woman not only in the wallpaper, but imagines that the room she is staying in used is meant to be something but in reality, it was a room to keep her. Moreover, the narrator cannot express herself because society will not allow it and is dominated by her role as a woman. People have beliefs that short stories that are deemed reliable.
Like Water for Chocolate’s author, Esquivel, depicts Mama Elena as a strong, independent woman who does not bother with things she deems insignificant. This translates to the reader through the decisions
