Matthew Santos Essays

CS Lewis stated, “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” This directly correlates with the life of Lupe Fiasco, which he demonstrates in many, if not all of his song’s lyrics. “The Show Goes On” in particular discusses the hardships Fiasco underwent as a young child, yet he managed to persevere. Throughout this song Fiasco hints to events that occurred in his life, while encompassing generalizations so that his listeners are able to relate. Instead of disregarding

The stories of Junot Diaz feature various elements of social and personal issues that are highly prevalent in young Latinx men, primarily the compulsion and adverse effect of machismo, the poignancy of being an outcast in one’s community, and the lack of a father figure in a boy’s life. The first set of short stories prominently feature Ysrael, a Dominican boy whose face was disfigured by a pig when he was an infant. In “Ysrael”, he is the object of Yunior’s fascination, and the victim or Rafa’s

In The Time Of Butterflies was written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist. She wrote In the time of Butterflies in 1994. The book divided into four sections, which make the sisters to have their own sections. The story took place in Dominican Republic during President Trujillo’s dictatorship government. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, nicknamed El Jefe, ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years. He organized secret police mento torture, and murder

“He who does not know how to deceive does not know how to rule”-Rafael Trujillo. This quote speaks the mind of a man who supported the fall of those around him and the one who ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years, only to known for his cruel dictatorship. The issue that surfaced through the 31 year regime of Trujillo was dictatorship and communism. These social issues caused the Dominican Republic to fall yet strive to freedom. The three causes that created the equitable Republic it is today

The story "The Rememberer," by Aimee Bender is about a woman, Annie, whose lover is experiencing reverse evolution. One day Annie wakes up and finds her husband has turned into an ape. A month goes by, and now he is a sea turtle. People call Annie asking why her lover Ben isn't at work or why he isn't picking up items he was supposed to. She explains to everyone how he has some sort of sickness and to stop calling. Next thing you know it, her husband is a salamander. Annie finally reaches her limit

In the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao women play an important role. The three main women Beli, La Inca and Lola help to define the novel. Throughout the novel women are seen as sexual objects to men. The dictator Trujillo makes it seem like it’s okay for men to objectify women. Women are portrayed as inferior to men because of how powerful the dictator is. They are so poorly treated and they are always trying escape reality. Every girl has a certain expectation from society. These women

Charles Dudley Warner once said, “We are half ruined by conformity, but we should be wholly ruined without it”. In today’s society, many tend to question their role in civilization, and what contribution it radiates throughout the world. Society as a whole has both its positives and negatives, but overall, many recognize that society and its expectations creates many constraints, forcing people to conform to a reality that has thus been created for them. Whether these conformities are considered

he forced others to praise him with songs, made people call him "Generalissimo Doctor Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, Honorable president of the Republic, Benefactor of the Fatherland", dedicated January 11th to a praise day in his honor, renamed Santo Domingo, DR's capital, Ciudad Trujillo, made everyone hang portraits of him with the caption "God and Trujillo", and praised his "whiteness" or "pureness." He made people believe he was a overly-powerful mythical

kill her were coming back so she had to leave. Beli thinks that she deserves to be happy and that Santo Domingo has ruined her life. She decides that “[She] never want to see it again” (Diaz 163). Beli don’t want to be in Bani ever again, which proves how the decision she make alters her destiny because the happiness that she deserves might be waiting for her. It was true that she had nothing left in Santo Domingo. Her relationship was full of lies,

"He who does not know how to deceive does not know how to rule," claimed Rafael Leonidas Trujillo as he executed thousands and manipulated millions to keep his power as the cruel dictator of the Dominican Republic. “To rule,” as stated by Trujillo appears to carry various interpretations for different people, but shares a common, and murderous, definition by Trujillo and King Claudius, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, during their time in power. Despite their differences, Claudius and Rafael Trujillo

Once Oscar graduates from college, he gets a job at his previous high school, which he later decides for the first time in years to join his family by visiting La Inca back in Santo Domingo (Diaz 263). While on his trip, he meets this woman, Ybon, in which he deeply falls in love with her but he quickly learns that she has another partner (Diaz 281). Ybon reveals that she is now married and encourages Oscar to leave before her

Courageous Character Courage means when you are able to do something or stand up for someone or something, despite when people say that you shouldn't do it, or when you know there will be consequences for doing the right thing. Throughout the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor uses the young Cassie Logan as an example of a young girl with courage, strength, and stands up for her beliefs and her family no matter what gets in her way. Cassie proved she was courageous and brave

The novel tells the various experiences of the women that existed in oscar’s life. There is a consistence of maltreatment of women starting from the beginning of the Cabral history and their fuku. The dominican republic is where the idea is patriarchy and the abuse of women stem from in the novel. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, president of the Dominican Republic, felt as ruler he could do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. This was true about the dictator, he was most noted for his desire for

República Dominicana The beautiful island of Dominican Republic (República Dominicana) is located on the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. It is home to a variety of different landscapes, exotic beaches along its coastline, steep mountain ranges, edible plants, and fertile plains. Haiti occupies the western third part of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic is surrounded by the islands of Beata, Catalina, Saona, Alto Velo, and Catalinita in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean

Junot Diaz Many of us would have heard about the history of Trujillo but not the way Junot Diaz tells it in his work Wao. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and emigrated to the US just being a child and grew up in New Jersey to be more specific. Since then it was a challenge for him to face a new language. His struggle with English made him cling in reading, and he later became a writer. Junot graduated from Rutgers University.The author of some works such as, “The Brief Wondrous Life of

a cake, but they also ridicule her and make fun of the way she looks. She decides to go pick guavas, because she was craving them. She explained that they were her “antojo”, which translates roughly to “craving” in spanish. ‘“I’ll tell you what my santo wants after five years,’ Yolanda says. ‘I can’t wait to eat some guavas’” (Alvarez 8). After going back home after five years, she misses the culture of her country. The search for guavas is a metaphor for her search for confidence and fulfillment

In the story a Genetics of justice the characters were trapped by a genetic curse of fear. There fear was of the Dominican republic leader at the time Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Trujillo was a crooked leader and because of it a lot of his people to feared him. In particular famous author Julia alvarez. Alvarez tells a story through her parents where they were trapped in the closet. By the end of this story Julia overcomes her fear and writes two books about it. The generational curse

Markandaya Kamala, the author of the book Nectar in a Sieve, is an Indian woman that expresses the struggles of colonial India in her book. Kamala's tone and diction described the pain the characters endured. The protagonist, Rukmani, endured her pain with her understanding and kind husband. Rukmani fought her own type of battles with hope and continued fighting. With Rukmani's hope came the fear of losing her children, not being able to survive and not having a roof over her family's head. Therefore

The Tang dynasty was one of the greatest dynasties in chinese history. The Tang dynasty had taken over the Sui dynasty, meaning the Sui dynasty might not have been listening to the mandate of heaven. The mandate of heaven said that if you did not treat your people the right way, you will be overthrown by a new dynasty, and the Sui dynasty was overthrown by the Tang dynasty.(mandate of heaven) The Tang dynasty had a population of about fifty million people, which was big during this time. The Tang

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells not only the story of Hester Prynne’s sin, but also shows wickedness behind Roger Chillingworth’s and Arthur Dimmesdale’s public appearances. In The Scarlet Letter, the two men who both have feelings for Hester clash with each other and even themselves. Throughout the novel, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale have a rather dark and twisted relationship. Although the pair start off as friends somewhat and do try to at least be respectful to one another, neither