Article Review of Menu Girls by Denise Chavez
While reading through The Last of the Menu Girls by Denise Chavez, the complexity of the novel made itself evident. There are many different levels to Chavez's novel. The article by Rowena Rivera brought many of those hidden themes and ideas to the surface. The article gives the reader a quick overview of Denise Chavez as an author. Rivera then goes into many of the hidden themes and ideas in the novel, such as the importance of memories. She also goes on to discuss things like the constant interlocking of Spanish and English.
Rivera begins her paper by simply giving the reader a list of many of the works Denise Chavez has written during her literary career. It is through this list
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There is one particular statement that Rivera makes that was interesting, which is that "memories are represented in Rocio's home by these forgotten objects, these fragments of past lives" (7). She also brings up that the past in "Shooting Stars" is best described as a memory that is constantly changing. Rocio is writing about Diana and Eloisa as she sees them as an adult instead of the insecure girl she once was. Rivera also brings up the importance of girls like Eloisa and Diana. One of the first things Rivera brings up the girls' importance to Rocio. To Rocio, Eloisa and Diana were the embodiment of womanhood. They stood for everything that Rocio desired to be. They were beautiful, confident, and mysterious. Rivera also brings up the fact that even the girls' names were created to exemplify beauty. For example, Eloisa is compared to the goddess Venus. Diana is named for the goddess of the moon. The names were created on purpose to show the girls' beauty and mystery. In the end, though, Rivera states that Chavez twists the plot around by showing Diana when she gets older. Diana is no longer this beautiful goddess. She is, at the end, a wrinkled, moustached, old maid. In the end, Rocio no longer sees these girls as romantic figures to be adored, but as real women with tragic lives. Another important point that Rivera brings up is Chavez's unique literary style of meshing together the English
In analyzing portrayals of women, it is appropriate to begin with the character of Margarita. For, within the text, she embodies the traditionally masculine traits of bravery, resilience, and violence as a means of liberating herself from an existence of abuse and victimhood. Even more, the woman plays upon stereotypes of femininity in order to mask her true nature. The reader witnesses this clever deception in a scene where the character endures a “wholesome thrashing” from her huge, violent, and grizzly bear-like husband, Guerra (81). Although Margarita “[submits] to the infliction with great apparent humility,” her husband is found “stone-dead” the next morning (81). Here, diction such as “submits” and “humility” relate to the traits of weakness, subservience and inferiority that are so commonly expected of women, especially in their relationships with men. Yet, when one
Acclaimed American author Richard Rodriquez’s autobiography “Days of Obligation” conveys that his feelings for both Mexico and the United States can be expressed through contrasts. Rodriquez uses pathos, tropes, and schemes to articulate his feelings. His purpose for writing about the contrasts between Mexico and California is to help readers understand the differences that affected his life. Rodriguez’s relationship with his literate audience is personal, since he is opening about his personal life and his views on it.
In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.
Francis Martinez Literary Analysis “First Muse” The story “First Muse” by Julia Alvarez tell us about her childhood in the Dominican Republic and her life in the United States. Since she started reading the thousand and one night book under her bed she saw herself reflected in the dark haired almond eyed girl on the book cover. Alvarez compared herself with the bright ambitious girl stuck in a kingdom that didn”t think female were very important. Scheherazade gave Julia the courage to explore the power of storytelling. When Alvarez came to the United States it was very difficult for her especially for a child who got teased on the playground because of her accent. Julia had a lot of obstacle in her life but she overcome all
In the passages Confetti Girl by Diana López and Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes, the narrators and the parents have different opinion on what is the right thing to do, and because of their different opinions, tension and distance in their relationship is created. The narrators in both passages feel alone or left out either because of the lack of attention of because they are missing a beloved parent. In both passages the narrators feel uncomfortable with the parent and is not fully opening up to them. In the sections Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, the different opinions between the two narrators and parents create distance and tension in their relationship.
Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Puerto Rican whose writing often examines the conflict and the beauty of cultures mixing together, as people immigrate to America. Though she exhibits a strong connection to her Latin heritage, she often seems to also resent that part of her life. There are many standards and expectations in the Puerto Rican society which Cofer writes to subvert, viewing them negatively. As a Puerto Rican woman, Cofer often disagrees with the limits and expectations placed on a woman in Puerto Rican society, and this attitude is the subject of much of her work. In “Claims,” the speaker describes “Grandmother.” Cofer uses this poem to illustrate a family and describe an individual, as well as
Caminero-Santangelo, Marta. 2007. On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth
In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros creates the theme that when a young girl is growing up without role models and a community that doesn’t support her development, she will have uncertainty in her identity and will search for her way out of the endless cycle. Cisneros does this through the main character, Esperanza. Cisneros creatively weaves the uncertain identity though many of the vignettes, but the vignettes that have the strongest meaning are number one and four. In vignette one, “The House on Mango Street,” Esperanza describes the places that she’s lived before
Judith Ortiz Cofer a Latin American author of short stories, poetry, autobiography, young adult fiction, and essays, as a young child migrated to Mainland America from Puerto Rico with her family, moving into an apartment complex with other people of Latin descent. Although, she spent most of her years in the Continental U.S. her writings are reflective of the strong latin heritage that her mother undoubtedly instilled in her from a young age. This is clear in her short story “Nada” where the narrator makes references to the hispanic community that live at an apartment complex in New Jersey. Cofer’s style of writing and experiences in her life are brought out in this story as well as many more of her writings. She includes some Spanish words throughout the story and ideals of the hispanic culture.
All the sisters have changed through the book: Patria has gained enough courage and bravery to join the revolution; Dede’s transformation is her political views strengthen and expand; Minerva being an independent person is her freedom, but she transforms when she has to give her child to Patria; Maria Teresa’s transformation was that she became an adult that could think, decide and act by herself. The purpose that is served by Alvarez’s use of violent imagery throughout the novel is to let us penetrate deep into the events that happened during the time of the Butterflies. With the fully emotional validity, demonstration of the essence of each person's thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and also the author’s attitude to the things, characters and
For instance, the protagonist of the play Ana, conquers the subject of gender roles, sexuality, and body image throughout the play. As a newly high school graduate who has been forced to work in the garment industry by her mother in order to help her sister Estela’s struggling business. A resentment starts to grow in Ana for wanting more opportunities and an education. Ana states in her writings, “It is selfish for me to not want to wake up every morning at 6:30 a.m., Saturdays included, to come work for 67 dollars a week?”(pg.10) With Ana’s carefree and headstrong demeanor she is constantly clashing with her mother on what she believes is right. Dona Carmen on the other hand is where much of these misogynistic ideals are stemmed from coming from a background and culture that has taught her to be submissive and never say no.
Natalie Diaz's debut collection, When My Brother Was An Aztec, is a book of poems that accounts Diaz's skills in imaginative and lyrical language. The collection explores her past in unexpected form and images, tackling the subjects of her family, most notably her meth addicted brother, life on the reservation, and being a Native American woman. In this collection Diaz has filled the pages with rich and interesting images that rely on Native American culture, experiences of her own as a Native American woman, and mythology. As I read this collection I was struck by how heavy her images rested on the page and yet how weightless they seemed to fly off.
Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these
Yet Moraga writing style is very difficult to comprehend at first, due to the barrier that she create by using Spanish and English. Moraga’s choice of words force the reader’s flow to be caught off guard and roots it to focus on every details. She blends both languages together that challenge the reader to understand the multiple categories of her. As she write her struggles to define herself in relation to others, (mainly in the Chicana/o community), she also makes it a challenge for the readers to fully access her trials at first read. In the article “Cherríe Moraga’s Loving in the War Years: lo que nunca pasó por sus labios: Auto-ethnography of the “New Mestiza,” Cloud states that “the placement of her own personal experiences within the context of her community enables Moraga to capture successfully the struggle of an entire people for individual and collective autonomy” (86). Clouds argue that Moraga purposely writes for an “all in one” perspective that can be very challenging for reader to understand. She admits that, “Loving in the War Years first part speaks to the confusion and personal struggle that characterized its author’s formative years, no more so than in its poetic parts. Much of the inner turmoil that pervades Moraga’s self-portrayal revolves around the collision course that is the confluence of her two ethnic identities: Chicana and American” (91). With this reason, the only way that Moraga could have directly and explicitly share her