ipl-logo

Summary Of Isla By Virgil Alvarez

469 Words2 Pages

In “Isla” by Virgil Suárez the author uses imagery and descriptive phrases to paint a picture of the pain an immigrant experiences in a world, described as an island, where they are unwanted and unwelcome (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p.679). The author’s use of descriptive phrases allows me to see the world as through the eyes of the young boy and I can see reality as the young boy believes it to be (JOLLIMORE, 2009). Just as the monster Godzilla would rise up against those determined to suppress his existence, an immigrant must rise up against oppression in an environment where he was not wanted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p.679). Being an immigrant is likened to being on an island exiled away from all that is acceptable. “Isla” or island is …show more content…

It is the country of origin that distinguishes the individual in such a deep and personal way from being accepted in the world. The island is symbolic, just as the boy is an island, isolated from societal acceptances that he wants so desperately, yet the monster of discrimination keeps him at a distance and forbids acceptance. Looking at a globe Cuba appears as an alligator or reptile just as Godzilla is a reptile. The young boy easily makes the collation between the images of a reptile that will consume or destroy all with which it comes in contact and the symbolic alligator in the ocean that destroys the hopes and dreams of an individual. While the young boy has left the island behind, the association renders him isolated just as if he is on an island. The boy wants to holler and curse in resistance of the discrimination, yet his origin would never leave him and would always be a factor regardless of where he lands in the world, since no one wants him to be there. While the mother wants to distinguish the difference in the island and the boy compared to Godzilla and the island of Cuba, even to a 12 year old boy the similarities are

Show More
Related
400 Words | 2 Pages

Leon, Leila’s stepfather in Bone, by Fae md ng, is an inventor and a collector. He entered America through Angel Island in San Francisco and assumed the identity of Grandpa Leong’s son in order to enter the country. He had to assume another identity, and keeps heaps of paper records to keep track of his names. Paper sons illegally entered the country by claiming relation to a current American citizen.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

A unique writer is someone who expresses his or her feelings throughout his narratives. Junot Diaz in my opinion is one of those unique writers. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, raced only by his hard working mother, Junot Diaz learned very valuable lessons in his childhood that helped him become whom he is today. Not only does Junot Diaz write great stories, but he also tends to give us a feeling of what is meant to be an immigrant from the Dominican Republic in his stories. Diaz humbleness and compassion towards others can be seen in this writing.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

It’s Not So Hot in Paradise As an American from the Midwest, the image that comes to mind of life on a Caribbean island is paradise which evokes a feeling of peace and tranquility. A place where one can escape the snow and freezing temperatures during the long winter months. A place one could enjoy beautiful beaches, tropical trees and green foliage year round.

Read More
1190 Words | 5 Pages

The Decolonial Imaginary, an undoubtedly challenging book that makes the reader question not only their knowledge of history and theory but also the way in which it has been told through the centuries. Emma Pérez, a Chicana historian with her bachelors, masters, and doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles, put into perspective the ideas of Freud, Foucault, archeology and genealogy to lead the reader through the deconstruction of Chicana feminist historiography. Pérez then reconstruct history in a way that breaks the destructive cycles of patriarchy. She crosses many boarders as she takes nationalist history and traverses it into a Chicana Feminism, and by doing so she rewrites history from the perspective of a decolonial imaginary.

Read More
1526 Words | 7 Pages

Michelle Cliff’s short story Down the Shore conspicuously deals with a particularly personal and specific, deeply psychological experience, in order to ultimately sub-textually create a metaphor regarding a wider issue of highly social nature. More specifically, the development of the inter-dependent themes of trauma, exploitation, as well as female vulnerability, which all in the case in question pertain to one single character, also latently extend over to the wider social issue of colonialism and its entailing negative repercussions, in this case as it applies to the Caribbean and the British Empire. The story’s explicit personal factor is developed through the literary techniques of repetition, symbolism, metaphor, as well as slightly warped albeit telling references to a distinct emotional state, while its implicit social factor is suggested via the techniques of allusion, so as to ultimately create a generally greater, undergirding metaphor.

Read More
538 Words | 3 Pages

People are often scared of monsters when they are young, but once they grow older and mature, they begin to realize that the idea was made up in their heads. However, some people are so set on the theory of there being mythological creatures that they do not think of the possibility of actual people being monsters instead. We like to believe that we live in a world where none of us are sane and our behavior is superb. When in reality, it is the opposite. We do not realize how much hatred, rape, and violence there is in the world.

Read More
1731 Words | 7 Pages

Introduction Informative, contemplative, and different are three words to describe “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” by Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco and Carola Suárez-Orozco from Rereading America. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” talks about unauthorized immigration. More specifically, this source talks about the other side of the issue of unauthorized immigrants; the human face of it all. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” depicts the monster from one of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s thesis in the article, “Monster Culture (7 Theses).” The monster seen in the source “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” is the one that Cohen talks about in his fourth thesis, “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference.”

Read More
787 Words | 4 Pages

Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban is narrated through a multiplicity of voices as the characters struggle to reconcile their identities either within Cuba or as immigrants in America. These narrative accounts express the consequences of political unrest in Cuba (between 1972 and 1980) on the formation of a stable identity, as well as the consequences of such on family kinships. As such, the main themes expressed throughout the novel include displacement and distance, which are prominently reflected through the characterizations of Lourdes and Pilar, and their connection to Cuba and America. Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban, then, explores the consequences of cultural exile on shaping a stable sense of self-identity, challenging the idea

Read More
969 Words | 4 Pages

“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María” by Judith Ortiz Cofer and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan depict the endeavors people take on in an attempt to integrate into society. Cofer demonstrates how stereotypes of Latina women have led others to misjudge her and explains the difficulty she had disassociating herself from those stereotypes. Tan demonstrates that the “broken” English her mother speaks has led others to think less of her and disregard her. One’s appearance instantaneously causes others to judge them. For some it is easier to blend in and be accepted by their community, but what is it that keeps some people from assimilating, and what effect does their otherness have on them?

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

Journeys can be driven by the desire to escape to a better place, but the process itself is just as significant as it discovers and transforms an individual’s perspective and identity. In Crossing the Red Sea, the migrants’ journey from war-torn Europe is ironically at a standstill, forcing them to contemplate their past and present circumstances. The voyage is a source of alleviation from emotional seclusion demonstrated through the personification “Voices left their caves / Silence fell from its shackles”, creating a mood of hope. Negatively, however, the migrants’ “limbo-like” status is highlighted by the metaphor of “patches and shreds / of dialogue”, creating a pessimistic tone increasing the sense of lost identity. The metaphor of “a

Read More
1508 Words | 7 Pages

Disappointment. Betrayal. Deceived. All these terms are common themes in the writing of several immigrants during their journey to America. After reading many personal accounts of immigrants and learning about their expeditions to America, it became evident it is not as joyous a ride as many make it seem.

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María is an essay by Judith Ortiz Cofer that addresses the impact of stereotyping on Latino women. Throughout the essay, Cofer relates her personal experiences with stereotypes to discuss how they have negatively affected her life and the lives of other Latinas. She also explains how these stereotypes originated and calls on her audience, the majority-white non-Latino population, to stop propagating the stereotypical portrayals of Latino women. In The Myth of the Latin Woman, Cofer speaks out about how stereotyping hinders the process of assimilating to a new culture by appealing to ethos through her personal experiences, using similes that show how stereotypes create isolation, and adopting

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

The Thorough Breakdown of Poem Immigrants After reading and studying the poem “Immigrants” by Pat Mora, one can see and identify a few literary symbolisms that are used to express the fearful tone of the poem. This poems three literary symbols that can be seen are, a sense of pride, acceptance, and of course sacrifice. The tone of this poem show how much an immigrant has to sacrifice in this country, in order to gain acceptance and, therefore, be proud Americans. Although, they can’t ever stop being who they are, they must try and sacrifice their own culture in order to be Americans.

Read More
242 Words | 1 Pages

This reveals the community the boy belongs is the spy who detects the illegal behaviours. Meanwhile the boy also belongs to the community of the children. The children are supposed to be innocent, whereas the children in the Oceania are aggressive and suspicious which reveals there is an aggressive and brainwashing education in the Oceania. The aggressiveness of the children is emphasised by describing the thoughts

Read More
1084 Words | 5 Pages

Racism/Discrimination: From Facts to Fiction Racism has been a big epidemic since the early 1600’s and is still a problem throughout society today. According to Dictionary.com, racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others. The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle exemplifies racism and discrimination by the dividing of communities from the impoverished minorities and the superior majority. Boyle reveals how more fortunate people stereotype the way minorities and poverty live rather than acknowledging

Read More

More about Summary Of Isla By Virgil Alvarez

Related Topics

Open Document