Ernesto Quinonez's Bodega Dreams

Caminero-Santangelo, Marta. 2007. On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.

In the book The House on Mango Street, author Sandra Cisneros presents a series of vignettes that involve a young girl, named Esperanza, growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza Cordero is searching for a release from the low expectations and restrictions that Latino society often imposes on its young women. Cisneros draws on her own background to supply the reader with accurate views of Latino society today. In particular, Cisneros provides the chapters “Boys and Girls” and “Beautiful and Cruel” to portray Esperanza’s stages of growth from a questioning and curious girl to an independent woman. Altogether, “Boys and Girls” is not like “Beautiful and Cruel” because Cisneros reveals two different maturity levels in Esperanza;

Ochoa finds that understudy in higher tracks gloated about nearness unchallenged in specific parts of school and capacity to effectively get a scholarly advocate. An understudy in lower tracks, Hispanic population, are watch over perspective radicalize suppositions that name them as group people, whereas Latina bodies are sexual, examined, and observed. Ochoa explains protection vitality, assets, and attempts to keep the school from making a non-judgmental and strong condition for an

In my analysis of this novel, The Adventure of Don Chipote or, When Parrots Breast-Feed by Daniel Venegas, I kept in mind that Nicolás Kanellos put great effort into getting this novel circulated in Spanish and in English. Kanellos argues that Spanish-language immigrant novels more accurately present the “evils” of American society such as oppression of the immigrant workers and deconstructs the myth of the American Dream, which permeates in English-language ethnic autobiographies. I believe Kanellos felt so passionately about circulating this particular novel was due to the fact that in Venegas’ novel we see clear representations of the three U.S. Hispanic cultures that Kanellos presents which are the native, the immigrant, and the exile cultures.

The author of Bodega Dreams puts a lot of emphasis on the latin community and how as a community people try to help each other out because they realize that they are alone because the government is not going to help them. Willie Bodega has a vision and wanted to help his community by fixing it it. He invested a lot of money in trying to fix it something that the government did not do. In one part of the book it talks about how something will happen in the community and if people don't talk about it lt=ot then the authorities will not do anything about it (ernesto quinonez 64). Bodega wanted to help his people because many people expect the worse from the spanish community. We are destined not be successful because society always expect the

     Through our readings of the Mexicans in the U.S. and the African-American experience modules, we begin to understand the formation of identity through the hardships minorities faced from discrimination. In this paper, I am going to compare and contrast the ideas of identity shown through the readings. These two modules exemplify the theme of identity. We see how Blacks and Latinos tried to find their identity both personally and as a culture through the forced lifestyles they had to live.

Esteemed civil rights leader, Cesar Chavez once, said, “We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community - and this nation.” An unwavering activist of equality and acceptance, Chavez worked to achieve equity for farm workers and Latinos in America. The farm worker’s battle for justice became a moral cause and Chavez was seen as a just and righteous civil rights activist. His formidable words reminded America of the principles that the country was brought upon: liberty and equality. He believed diversity brought new ideas and cultures which bolstered the strength of a community. Schools are the semblance of their communities, a complete likeness of the

A.  Hook “The most urgent problem for the American education system has a Latino face.” (Gándara)

When one visualizes Latino culture, the prevalent images are often bright colors, dancing, and celebrations. This imagery paints a false portrait of the life of many Latino’s, especially those that are forced to leave their home countries. Latinos often face intense poverty and oppression, whether in a Latin country, or a foreign country, such is true in Pam Ryan’s novel Esperanza Rising. Ryan chronicles the issues that many Latino immigrants face. The first is the pressure from the home country. Many of the countries face turmoil, and many are forced to leave their homes and culture. Once in a foreign place, people often struggle with standing by their own culture or assimilating to the new culture. Latino authors frequently use young adult literature as a platform to discuss the issues they face, as young adults are coming of age they struggle with their identities, personifying the struggle of old culture against the new culture.

In the novel “Bodega Dreams” by Ernesto Quinonez, the protaganist Willie Bodega is known for being an assest leader to his community of Spanish Harlem. When Julio (Chino) is introduced to Bodega he makes a deal with him and of course Chino knows he can’t pass up the opportunity due to his circumstances. Chino ends up getting really involved with drug and gang activities, but decides to stay around because he uses Bodega’s social status to help him become of a higher status in Spanish Harlem. Chino benefits from the anti- heroism Bodega displays through out the community and uses it for himself. Bodega isn’t really a hero throughout the novel, but since he is so well known, people disregard the fact that he is into drugs and gangs. After Bodega

Did you know that the way a person talks to someone can reflect that person’s identity? We can see this in the book “Bodega Dreams” by Ernesto Quinonez. The protagonist Julio Mercado, better known as Chino, is a young man who grew up in a neighborhood in East Harlem which is not so good. He is also currently in college and expecting a baby with his wife Nancy Saldivia, also known as Blanca. He has a best friend named Enrique also known by Sapo, and they have been best friends since Junior High School. He also works with a former drug lord named William Bodega who is advocating to help change the neighborhood in East Harlem. Chino’s voice reflects the different aspects of his identity by changing whenever he talks to his best friend Sapo,

Marxism provides oppressed people, Chicanos, a theory for the cause of their contemporary condition and a plan of action to eliminate that oppression According to Mindiola; racism is not the consequence of class position but a major determinant of class placement in American society. Marxian theory defines class exploitation as a characteristic of a capitalist society, and the racial affiliation of Chicanos determines their occupational placement within the working class. Ultimately, their position leaves them vulnerable to a certain degree of class exploitation as demonstrated by their wages and working conditions. Mindiola contends that by imposing a racialized theory on Chicano-Anglo relations, blurs class divisions that exist within both groups (558). There can be people within the classes that are better off than others, so not all face a common struggle.

Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural reproduction has transformed as well as influenced the literature field, following Alice Sullivan’s statement on the successful results of Bourdieu 's theory: “Bourdieu 's theory of cultural reproduction has been highly influential, and has generated a great deal of literature, both theoretical and empirical” (144). According to Bourdieu’s theory, based on his book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, makes the declaration that higher levels of education will result in perceiving and comprehending the world around them much differently than a person with a much lower educational level. Bourdieu’s theory attributes this claim to the terms: cultural capital, cultural arbitrary and habitus, which are developed through education and rationalize how the higher social classes are made up of these different forms of capital. Also, this critical analysis of these different forms of capitals has been one of Bourdieu 's major contributions to the study of educational processes: “The concept of cultural capital is one of Pierre Bourdieu 's major contributions to the study and critical analysis of educational processes and the ways in which they are associated with socially unequal outcomes” (Moore 445). Given the success of Bourdieu’s theory in both literature and education, Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction can be found in many genres of literature including the Latin American literature piece of Doña Bárbara. The novel presents

This demonstrates the practices and teaching in schools. The case study relates to how ethnic minorities may face barriers to education at school. The teacher is the one who holds power and influences upon all the pupil in the classroom. Teachers who hold such low expectations of pupil specifically create these. Stereotypes in which other (White) pupil in the classroom would make the lower group feel bad about themselves. This stereotype led by the teacher would continue to spread by the pupil’s. This example led by the