Aguantando, Junot Diaz Essay

Analyzing a symbol as a literary convention used by author, Junot Díaz makes a way to identify the purpose of the device. In his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), the mechanism is used to develop an explicit character and point of view. The symbol is a sensory image that holds rich implication that is either a narrow or broad. Occasionally the reader is cast off by the author with an unknown meaning of the symbol hence is forced to create his own interpretation. The latter principle is intentionally carried out by the author as a literary hook to draw the attention of his audience to keep reading. Moreover, the author may also use in combination with the hook the method of utilizing pathos as a way of arousing the

The 1959 novel, Pocho, by José Antonio Villarreal is an insightful cultural exposition told primarily from the vantage point of Richard Rubio, the coming-of-age son of immigrant Mexican parents who eventually settle in Santa Clara, California, after many seasons of migrant farm work. Although fiction, the story likely mirrors some of the experiences of the author who was born to migrant laborers in Los Angeles in 1924 and was himself a "pocho" - a child of the depression era Mexican-American transition. ("I am a Pocho," he said, "and we speak like this because here in California we make Castilian words out of English words." p 165)

A unique writer is someone who expresses his or her feelings throughout his narratives. Junot Diaz in my opinion is a unique writer. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, raced only by his hard-working mother, Junot Diaz learned very valuable lessons during his childhood that helped him become who he is today. Junot Diaz writes great stories that allow him to open up his feeling of what it means to be an immigrant from the Dominican Republic throughout his narratives. Diaz humbleness and compassion towards others is illustrated in his writing. Not only does Diaz write amazing novels and short stories, but he also takes action towards exposing the problems that the Dominican people, especially women encounter everyday. Several people

Cruz Reynoso is one of these life changing people who changed history. In the film Sowing the seeds of justice it describes Cruz Reynoso early life as child who felt the injustice and know something had to be done. Reynoso was born into a Spanish-Speaking family of migrant farmworkers in Brea, California where is family would often travel north of the United States to pick crops in order to make money. Reynoso is the third child of the elven children his mother had and he had some barriers to break with his mother at home since his mother did not understand why Reynoso and his brothers wanted to read books instead of working in the fields. At that time, many young boys that came from migrant farm families like Reynoso, would quit their education

On Sundays after Mass- every single Sunday, Latinos gathered on parks to play soccer and have carne asada something that is very traditional in Mexican families my family could be an example of that. These parks were built with the money taken from the Japanese which speaking of now a day’s use these complexes too and this is where the two cultures met.

The rebellious tomboy of the family, Yolanda, got herself into a lot of trouble. She had difficulty interacting with men and had to divorce her first husband, John, because he couldn’t relate to her Spanish roots. This heartbreak let to a mental breakdown similar to Sandi’s. Once in the U.S., Yolanda developed a love for writing and became a poet. The youngest daughter of the García family, Sofia, was wild and rebellious during her adolescence.

The Cantigas de Santa Maria is one of the largest collections of monophonic songs from the Middle Ages and is branded by the mention of the Virgin Mary in all 427 songs. The Cantigas are written in Galician-Portuguese, a poetic language in Castile at the time. The musical forms within the Cantigas, are still being studied. There is a plethora of variations, but no musical forms have been considered standard.

In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Dominican men are judged via their embodiment of the hyper-masculine ideals and a number of women they sleep with. Outliers such as Oscar de Leon are therefore criticized, humiliated and emasculated by fellow members of society. Diaz characterizes Oscar’s plight as his struggle to lose his virginity: a major accomplishment of the Dominican, male ideal. Yunior, on the contrary, is the epitome of a Dominican man. He is able to sweep women off their feet and sleep with them. He constantly brags about his sexual conquests and encourages Oscar to pursue a lifestyle which would make him appealing to women. This machismo culture is constantly reinforced by Yunior and other male members of

Born in Medellin, Spain, he was a Spanish Conquistador who conquered most of Central America. He also gave Spain three-hundred years of control over Mexico. Cortez started exploring in the early 1500’s. He explored to find riches and conquered by being observant of the natives. With a small army, he conquered the Aztec Empire. Cortez went to the university in Salamanca, Spain. He attended the university to study Latin and Law. Unfortunately, Cortez completed only two years of school. He returned to his family in Medellin, Spain. However, life became boring for him. Nevertheless, Christopher Columbus inspired Cortez to explore the New World. Finally, Cortez was able to

La Ventana de Los Cielos is a nonprofit organization where they offer a variety of activities for children and adolescents with special needs. The mission of this facility is to promote and improve the physical and mental functions of those with special needs. This facility has 4 different stations where the children rotate and are able to participate in each station. Every station focuses on a specific function such as cognition, motor skills, sensory and social skills with the goal to enhance each function. Services offered at La Ventana include horse-based activities, zoo-interaction, aqua-experiences, music and arts and crafts. The standard ratio of staff to patients is one on one. Although there are times where there might not be enough volunteers or not enough kids that attend on a particular day, a volunteer may be left without a child or may have to work with 2 kids. I feel that the standards of ratio of one on one is adequate because it allows the staff to give the child full attention and are able to get the most out of that child for that particular day.

Ester Benitez Padilla currently works for the Office of the High commissioner for Human Rights, as a Human Rights Officer and volunteers her time at legal clinics to low income and underrepresented communities in New York on her spare time. Additionally, she is currently fluent in six languages, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a nun, self-taught student, and a writer of the Hispanic Baroque and the Latin American colonial period. She was as well an activist for women's rights. Most of her works included a strong female who challenged women’s social values. She is said to be the first published feminist writer of her time.

The República Dominicana (Dominican Republic) was once a disastrous economy, though through the power of education and freedom, as of 1966 when the new constitution was created, the República Dominicana has become a thriving society bound to create a country with the freedom and privilege of America. The country is nestled in a chain of islands southeast of Florida, bordering Haiti. It is mostly (79%) mixed, but does have a small portion of whites (16%) and blacks (11%).

     The Amistad, ironically a ship that means “friendship,” was the setting of one of the most historical slave revolts led by black Africans in 1839. This revolt gained considerable attention from the

I found myself backpacking through South America and I decided to start my journey in the beautiful country Colombia. Literature proves to be one of the greatest devices for understanding a culture and passing the time so I looked for an archive. I eventually reached the abandoned town of Aracataca and accidentally discovered a complete manuscript for an unnamed novel by author Gabriel García Márquez. After some extensive analysis, it seems to be an exceptionally peculiar story told through a confusingly fragmented timespan examining the heinous murder of protagonist Santiago Nasar. While this is the focus of the novel, there is an ominous underlying tone about obligation to the culture of a society, especially with regards to relationships.