Se Habla Espan᷉ol and Mother Tongue Tanya Maria Barrientos and Amy Tan are similar but also contain some key differences. Barrientos and Tan are children of immigrants that are ashamed of their families heritage. Although Barrientos and Tan were raised within different cultures, they are both ashamed of where they came from. As Barrientos says, “I wanted to call myself Latino, to finally take pride, but it felt like a lie” (631).…
There is the old saying, “You do not know what someone else is going through, until you have walked in their shoes.” With Cristina Henriquez’s book, “The Book of Unknown Americans,” I felt I was as close to experiencing what the characters were going through without actually being in their shoes. Henriquez did a great job of adding details and twists while getting you emotionally attached to the characters. From the beginning I was drawn to the characters in “The Book of Unknown Americans.”…
Short Critical Response “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” In the book, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, by Julia Alvarez shows the lives of four sisters who struggle with finding their own identities in American culture. The four girls named Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia were forced to move out of the Dominican Republic when they were young girls and now struggle to adapt to a new culture that is much different from their social norms. The elements of the text that I thought were the most significant was a quote that Alvarez states, "She has been too frightened to carry out any strategy, but now a road is opening up before her. She clasps her hands on her chest—she can feel her pounding heart—and nods.…
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation”(Oscar Wilde). The struggle between finding ones identity and what society expects one to be is a hardship many people go through. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a story about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza who goes through many hardships that define who she is and in the end she forms an identity. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is about a reservation Indian boy named Arnold who goes through similar struggles with forming his identity.…
My Modern Hero “ My mission is to rescue. My hope is that one day I won't have to” I have chosen Tia Torres as my modern hero because of her determination and willingness to save those who need saving and help the misguided get back on track. Tia Torres famous not only because of her show Pitbulls and Parolees, or her rescue Villalobos but because of her love for misguided animals and people. Tia Torres came from a broken beginning, she lived with her stepmother who she always called mom and didn't have a father figure. Even in those times she still had the heart and strength to take in stray animals,whether it was a horse or a goat.…
The poem “Bilingual/Bilingue”, by Rhina. P. Espaillat describes how a young girl is struggling with her combined cultures and two separate languages. The girl was born in a Mexican family who speak Spanish, but she is bilingual(bilingue) and speaks both Spanish and English. The girl must must struggle with the fact father fears that, because she is bilingual, that she will lose the part that connects them together, that being their shared language. The poem utilizes language, imagery, as well as form to convey the overall message.…
The concepts of genre, audience, and rhetorical situation are alike in their significance to the process of writing. They can be distinguished not only by their definitive meanings, but by a series of questions considered in the early stages of writing; what do I want to say, how do I want to say it, and who do I want to say it to? To these questions there are no clear-cut answers, empowering the writer to explore a variety of topics. It is important to understand that genre, audience, and rhetorical situation are not considered in a sequential order, nor are they exclusive to planning. In fact, the development of new ideas can occur in any stage of writing.…
I was brought up in a middle-class, organized household. My mom is Dominican, so along with being raised in an American household, I had a good taste for spanish culture as well. But at age ten culture didn't have much impact on me; I didn’t understand the difference in culture. My…
I will be speaking about my feelings and thoughts about how this book affected me and what I enjoyed about it. As soon as I finished the book I felt really emotional and my eyes were watery as I explained the story to my sister. I did not know how to explain my feelings, because most of the problems Reyna discussed I had not personally gone through. My parents are both from Mexico and they both came to the other side at really young ages. My dad came to the United States at the age of fourteen with no family or large amount of money.…
Growing up, in a Hispanic home I learned the values of life in a differently with hardship but always maintaining closeness. At home, I was taught that family is the most important thing in life. Even though I was born in the United States, my family taught me how to stay in touch with my Hispanic roots and never be ashamed of my culture. Speaking Spanish is greatly important to me. Because of this, I am able to communicate easily with my family members and the Hispanic community.…
I am now able to appreciate the traits that come from both of the cultures I live in, whether it be the opportunistic outlook on life that I have developed from living in the United States or the motivation that comes from living in a Mexican household. I have developed goals of success, such as attending a four year university and majoring in political science. My Mexican side has encouraged me to work as hard as I can to end the cycle of poverty that has plagued my family and be the first to go to college and obtain a degree. Since then I have grown to love the fact that I am Mexican-American even more and more. I love that I am bilingual, and I believe that this trait will help me obtain the career in law that I desire.…
Culture is everywhere. The way one communicates, his or her mannerisms or quirks, the foods they like to eat, and even the clothes they enjoy wearing are all elements of their culture. The essay “The Chinese in All of Us”, authored by Richard Rodriguez, is all about culture and how one should respond towards the mixing of different cultures. The overall topic is about multiculturalism. According to online article, “Multiculturalism”, multiculturalism is the about the correct way to react towards the diversity of cultures (Song 2010).…
During the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I realized I am Mexican. On one side of my family my grandparents are completely white but on the other side my grandparents are 100% Mexican. I grew up making tamales at Christmas and I learned about my culture. My grandparents who were born in Mexico came to the United States by walking across the border. I admired my grandparents’ strength and courage and they helped me understand the idea of The American Dream.…
Taming Nativity The excerpt, “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out,” from the essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” by Gloria Anzaldua helps convey the idea of how American cultural imperialism forces Chicanos to abandon their culture and heritage and assimilate into the American way of life. Gloria Anzaldua, a sixth-generation Mexican-American, grew up in Texas 's segregated educational system in 1949, where she experienced discrimination and judgement because of her native language. In her essay Anzaldua shares first hand experience of the internal and external struggle Chicanos face everyday in this country because of the ambiguity in their cultural identification.…
The United States has rapidly conformed into a multiracial society. Bilingual individuals come to America in hopes to find equal rights and freedom and face discrimination by Americans. American values are forced upon these people and according to Tan and Anzaldua, a certain way of life is expected of them. The struggle of “fitting in” and accepting the cultural background is a major point in both essays, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. Their experiences with the discrimination in the United States have given them they reason to stand against social inequality.…