Harmony at Home

A similarity noticed was the main topic of each story. Each express their view and their experience living in America. Both being girls living in an American society. Both talking about their American identity while being a mix of different ethnicities.

Furthermore, in most cases, it may seem the United States has a system in which immigrants are not given the chance to form a bright future. In the novel, “Antonio soon found himself settling for jobs that were clearly beneath him. He stood under the baking sun at the on-ramp to the Santa Monica Freeway, selling oranges for two dollars a bag: a dollar fifty for the guy from the produce market, fifty cents for him,” (Tobar, 53). Many of the immigrants that live in the U.S. have little power that allows them to succeed. Some races have benefitted from it more than others. The Cubans, for instance, have had it much easier than most immigrants who have migrated to the United States; whereas, Antonio, a Guatemalan, had trouble finding a stable job that allowed him to sustain himself. In contrast to many other races, many Americans described Cubans as being visitors who represent, “all phases of life and professions, having an excellent level of education… More than half of their families with them, including children brought from Cuba to escape communist indoctrination in the schools,”

After reading the essays, “Lunch” and “Feet in Smoke”, the reader comes to realize the privilege and importance of family stories. Both essays portray a heartbreaking story of losing a member of the family either through death or losing them mentally.

“Looking for Work”, by Gary Soto, is about a little Mexican boy who wants his family to mimic the families that he sees in reality and also the families that he sees on the television. He also wants to begin working at a very early age. He would go house-to-house on his block and ask for duties the owners if there was anything that he could do to earn some money. The little boy wanted his family to dress up wherever they went because he wanted him and his family to feel approved by the other higher-class families. The author describes there family as a middle-class family, but apparently the little boy was watched too much television and wants his family to improve their living habits.

The similarities between the stories may not appear very apparent at first over closer analyzation the appear more apparent .Both stories are focused around a brother and a sister whom

Lee’s essay “Magical Dinners” and Slater’s “Tripp Lake” are two stories that allows you to see different situations that involve a parent and a child. They both struggle with different things one being with dramatic life changes that come with being a foreigner moving to the united states and one being a childhood camp experience and the mothers maternal fear of the daughter.In Magical Dinners it showcases the story of the authors mother and the frustrations of living in a place with unfamiliar food,language and faces. In Tripp Lake the author is the narrator and you see the mothers feelings convey through her daughter being able to do things she wasn 't when she was younger. In these two stories we will look at the impact both mothers had on there child 's lives and trying to please them through the events , actions and motions involved.Based on reading the two stories Magical dinners and Tripp lake i found that they have similarities that produce two different results.

In the film “Mi Familia,” we follow the story of the Mexican-American Sánchez family who settled in East Los Angeles, California after immigrating to the United States. Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas introduce the story of this family in several contexts that are developed along generations. These generations hold significant historical periods that form the identity of each individual member of the family. We start off by exploring the immigrant experience as the family patriarch heads north to Los Angeles, later we see how national events like the great depression directly impact Maria as she gets deported, although she was a US citizen. The events that follow further oppress this family and begins separate identity formations. These

In the late nineteenth and twentieth century many immigrants were migrating to the United States for an economic advantage and some by contract labors from various agents, much different from their predecessors. Thomas Bell’s novel “Out of this Furnace” is a generational novel of the characters Kracha, Mike, Mary, and Dobie, coming to America expecting to receive the American Dream and have a better life to soon return back home with riches. However, immigrants and many working class individuals undergo long hours and strenuous work, with minimal amount of pay. Not to mention, the living conditions were horrendous for the average person and particularly worse for arriving immigrants. There was a division between the classes which ultimately

Lopez, R. A. (2009, April 09). The other side of machismo. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.latinoopinion.com/category/cultural-traits/machismo/

I mention it because, in this story we can find my three main points that I am going to talk about. Happiness is an important part to be a successful family, because if we are not happy in our home, with our family, then we will have a hard time to find happiness in our daily life as well. In Gary Soto’s story, when the kid is trying to be the perfect family, as shown in the Tv shows, with eating dinner and speaking politely to each other. His mother denied his idea really quick so as you read, he started working. I think he was completely wrong, and he realized that as well after a while. We do not need to be like other “perfect” families to be able to be happy. It does not matter if we are wearing a nice suit, or a bathing suit to the dinner,

While each story had their contrasting elements, the base theme of each was remarkably similar; Both of the authors manipulate the theme of motherhood to examine the ideas of slavery, home and forgiveness during two very different time periods.

The poem “Finding Home” written by Carolina Hospital tells the story of how Mexicans who come to America try to find their heritage in the United States. Like many who migrate to America, the immigrants miss their country and are concerned about losing their culture. In contrast to Harvey Gomez, this poem shows that many Mexicans in America appreciate their heritage. “I have travelled north again,/to these gray skies/and empty doorways,” (Hospital 101). This shows that they miss their native country and are concerned about forgetting their heritage. Perhaps Harvey’s grandparents thought the same thing when they first came to America from Mexico. Regardless of their arrival in America, they want to return to Mexico someday. “I must travel again soon” (Hospital 102). Despite leaving their native land they have respect for Mexico and will visit again. After the experience that Harvey had in discovering his heritage, I am sure that he will visit Mexico again.

From the 1900s, the Progressive Era had new immigrants from the Southern and Eastern Europe. Between the years of 1900 and 1930, one million immigrants who were Mexican migrated for economic opportunities. It was near the year of the great depression which started in 1929. This led the American dream for many immigrants who were looking for jobs and starting a new life. According to Eric Foner “ Voices of Freedom” , page 73, when sociologist Manuel Gamio managed interviews of Mexican-American immigrants in Los Angeles. He decided to report about the Santella family, one better off and “whiter” than most Mexican immigrants. The information he obtained were from conversations and observing the family. This gave some idea on why American freedom has inspired many immigrant families. The Santella family was a total of 9, Mr. Santella and his wife and 5 boys and 2 girls.

First of all, the setting of this novel contributes to the Rivera family’s overall perception of what it means to be an American. To start this off, the author chooses a small American city where groups of Latino immigrants with their own language and traditions, lived together in the same apartment building. All these immigrants experienced similar problems since they moved from their countries. For example, in the novel after every other chapter the author

In, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there are essential factors to the development of the main characters in each of these books. The main characters have to undergo the challenges that life brings including tough decisions with their own family, friends, and sometimes even oneself. Throughout the book the parents’ attitudes and actions shift the character’s view on life dramatically. In Death of a Salesman, Willy’s overbearing parental tendencies on his son, Biff, are overshadowed by Willy’s flaws. In House on Mango Street, there are many instances Esperanza looks to elders for help and she is let down constantly. Although the parents are bad role models for the main characters, Biff, Happy and Sally, learn from their mistakes and somehow makes these characters better in the end.