The theme of illegal status hovered over a subsequent fragment of the population in the US, who are living in the country and deprived of all legal rights that are bestowed to legal residents. In her book “just like us”, Helen Thorpe delves in depth into the matter by analyzing the lives of four girls - Marisela Benavidez, Yadira Vargas, Clara Luz and Elissa Ramirez- who are bound by the same background, age, and perspective, trying to live the American dream as Mexican-Americans girls. Thorpe emphasizes the legal status of the four girls and analyzes how that influences their lives regarding opportunities, goals, and perspective. Among the four girls, Yadira and Marisela are the ones lacking proper documentation. The two girls face many issues
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The girls were in their senior year of High school and shared the same background; all of them are Mexican Americans, but only two of them had proper documentations. A couple of months before the prom night all the four girls had ambitious aspirations for a university education, and a career that matches their ambitions. Growing up in Denver which, at that time, became a traditionally home for many Latinos, all the four girls were together since Middle school through high school. Their senior year was a critical stage of their lives as they were preparing to apply to university, but only two of them could get a scholarship to pursue their dreams. ‘’Just Like Us’’ starts by describing the prom night as the four girls were making their preparation for the night party. Afterward, all the four girls without exception could make it into college. Marisela and Yadira succeeded to attend Denver University through a private donor named Cinthia Poundstone. At the time goes by, the two illegal girls seemed to struggle to adapt to their new school where whites were the dominant component. In the end, all of them succeeded to graduate, but the matters of illegal status remained unsolvable for the two undocumented …show more content…
While they were preparing for their senior prom, the excitement had consumed them and overshadowed the complication they would face when applying for college. Thorpe describes how the four girls were on the same path and were so close to each other over the years: “all the girls had forged their bonds from myriad nights like this-from years of secrets, squabbles, and private jokes, years of outmaneuvering their Mexican parents, years of figuring out adulthood and America” (Thorpe 19). The day before the prom night showed how close they are; the day after, in contrast, left them to face their destinies in which their heritage and their legal status play a crucial part. The two undocumented girls on that night didn’t give too much attention to their eminent problems and sought that night as a short recreation: “the prom had served as a temporary distraction” (Thorpe 19). At this very night, the girls enjoyed their graduation and had fun and everything as they danced laughed and had a perfect time as regular high school student do. But then they started to discuss their future and their plan for college. At that crucial moment, the two undocumented girls start over again to be preoccupied with their legal handicap: “but once it was
The girls were in their senior year of High school and shared the same background; all of them are Mexican Americans, but only two of them had proper documentations. A couple of months before the prom night all the four girls had ambitious aspirations for a university education, and a career that matches their ambitions. Growing up in Denver which, at that time, became a traditionally home for many Latinos, all the four girls were together since Middle school through high school. Their senior year was a critical stage of their lives as they were preparing to apply to university, but only two of them could get a scholarship to pursue their dreams. ‘’Just Like Us’’ starts by describing the prom night as the four girls were making their preparation for the night party. Afterward, all the four girls without exception could make it into college. Marisela and Yadira succeeded to attend Denver University through a private donor named Cinthia Poundstone. At the time goes by, the two illegal girls seemed to struggle to adapt to their new school where whites were the dominant component. In the end, all of them succeeded to graduate, but the matters of illegal status remained unsolvable for the two undocumented …show more content…
While they were preparing for their senior prom, the excitement had consumed them and overshadowed the complication they would face when applying for college. Thorpe describes how the four girls were on the same path and were so close to each other over the years: “all the girls had forged their bonds from myriad nights like this-from years of secrets, squabbles, and private jokes, years of outmaneuvering their Mexican parents, years of figuring out adulthood and America” (Thorpe 19). The day before the prom night showed how close they are; the day after, in contrast, left them to face their destinies in which their heritage and their legal status play a crucial part. The two undocumented girls on that night didn’t give too much attention to their eminent problems and sought that night as a short recreation: “the prom had served as a temporary distraction” (Thorpe 19). At this very night, the girls enjoyed their graduation and had fun and everything as they danced laughed and had a perfect time as regular high school student do. But then they started to discuss their future and their plan for college. At that crucial moment, the two undocumented girls start over again to be preoccupied with their legal handicap: “but once it was