Literary Analysis Of Only Daughter By Sandra Cisneros

In the short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid is told from the perspective of two different people. There is a bonding relationship that is happening between the two people in this short story. The mother seems to be the main character in this essay uses a very strict tone to her daughter. The daughter is being told about how to do things in her life the correct way. The daughter barely speaks during this essay, she is doing more analyzing than arguing with her mother. When the mother gives the daughter advise she was trying to give her words of wisdom. But, at the same time, some of the ideas the mother gave to her child was offensive like “slut”. The mother has different perspectives throughout this essay with a lot of different

In the story "Woman Hollering Creek" Sandra Cisneros discusses the issues of living life as a married woman through a character named Cleofilas; a character who is married to a man who abuses her physically and mentally .Cisneros reveals the way the culture puts a difference between a male and a female, men above women. Cisneros has been famous about writing stories about the latino culture and how women are treated; she explain what they go through as a child, teen and when they are married; always dominated by men because of how the culture has been adapted. "Woman Hollering Creek" is one of the best examples. A character who grows up without a mother and who has no one to guid and give her advise about life.

Sandra Cisneros explores gender preference within her Mexican-American heritage with strong usage of imagery and the variation of her tone. First, the imagery found in “Only Daughter” helps portray the sacrifices Cisneros father made for his children. For instance, Cisneros writes how ecstatic their father was that his children would use their smarts instead of their hands like he once had to. Cisneros describes her father's hands saying, “Even now my father's hands are thick and yellow, stubbed by a history of hammer and nails and twine and coils and springs” (Cisneros 99). Cisneros use of imagery creates a vivid picture of how her father has worked extensively to make sure his seven children do not have to work as hard as he did to live in

Most parents impose very high expectations on their children. While some expect their sons to become professionals in respected fields, others encourage their daughters to find good husbands. The parents impose these expectations without consulting their children. In most situations, the expectations of the parent deviate from the dreams of the child. This is what becomes evident when one reads Sandra Cisneros’ Only Daughter and Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue. In these short stories, the expectations that the parents of the narrators elicit mixed reactions. The expectations of the narrators’ parents hold them back from attaining personal goals while causing them to desperately desire approval and eventually accepting and embracing their parents..

The story “Only Daughter” was published in a Glamour magazine in 1990. It was written by Sandra Cisneros. She comes from a Mexican-American family who follow the tradition where men are considered more important than women. She describes the cultural strictness that she faces due to the fact that she is the only female of the family; she has six brothers. Cisneros does her best to get her father to recognize her importance, however she is always unacknowledged and overlooked not only by her father, but her brothers as well. Sandra specifies the difficulties she experiences while she is the only girl; she is considered different. Her purpose is to illustrate the reality of living in a hispanic family. For example she mentions that the hispanic culture sees women are only meant to find a husband and get married.

Cultural values and expectations are at the root of the tensions between mothers and daughters in Kincaid’s work , among which are the preference for the male child, the stress on housework as opposed to education, and the sexual repression put on

Many young second generation daughters of Mexican heritage has grown up with a distinctive gender norm. In the midst of the second world war, the expression of freedom and equality spread throughout the country. This initiates for women to become more tuned to the social affairs the men had left behind. Thus, immigration brought a lot of Mexican families into Los Angeles. Double exposure to familial expectations and the American way of life brought in a sense of desperation of trying to balance both. The second generation daughters who have been exposed to the loudly spoken

Again, the story shows lots of examples in how the Sandoval family had to go through many discriminating acts. At the end of the Story Mariana, daughter of Pete, Granddaughter of Neftali falls in love with an Anglo Rich boy who never learned to accept Mariana because she was Mexican. Society has characterized Mexican Americans as unintelligent, dirty, and lazy people, therefor seeing an Anglo male with a Mexican girl was not common, and even if one did not think that at the time, Anglos were still embarrassed to be seen interacting with Mexicans, which could potentially degrade their name. Marianas Boyfriend David makes Mariana get an abortion on chapter seven, promising her a future; even though, Striver was planning on leaving Mariana after the abortion and planned to start a new life. This part of the story is absolutely saddening because Mariana died, thinking Stiver loved her, and was going to have a future with her. Mariana is not one only unfortunate girl who had this happen to her, but a Mexican woman during this era was only seen for maids, prostitutes, factory/field workers, or simply nothing. This shows the indifference Mexican American woman had to face, which was much different that Anglo woman.

Cisneros has three major themes in her story: such as relationships with parents, terms of approval, and the perspectives people have of a woman’s role. The relationship with her father is that it was non-existent, she tried to get her father to acknowledge her, yet he wouldn’t. All her father did was encourage her to go to college and find a husband. She is there to please her new-found husband; however, this leads her to introduce herself that she is “the only daughter and only a daughter” (Pg. 401). Whether she meant it sarcastically or ironically.

Set in a futuristic society, a central influence on ones status and wealth in “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” by George Saunders, comes from ownership of semplica-girls; women from poor countries who agree to become human ornaments, strung by a microline installed in their temple, in order to provide money for their families. Through characterizing Eva as sensitive, and abnormal, Saunders shows that the average person doesn 't see how owning semplica-girls is morally wrong. The majority of people who can afford SG’s have them; in Eastridge, a presumably rich neighborhood, approximately 39/50 had. This number shows the normalization of owning SG’s. Eva consistently expresses her dislike saying, “I don’t like it. It’s not nice. . .If we want to help them, why can’t we just give them the money?”. The rest of her family are fascinated by the semplica-girls, and aspire to have one of their own. However, Eva sees the cruelty in displaying humans as ornaments for their own benefits, because as she suggests, if they wanted to help them they would give them money. In an attempt to defend themselves, her parents justify owning semplica-girls because the women have seen worse, are “happier”, and able to send money to their families. The fact that Eva goes against society’s beliefs, shows that she sees through the distorted justification society proposes. Her father writes that Eva “has developed tendency to set herself apart from others” and sees her sensitivity as “an

The fact that Sandra was raised in a family of all males eventually did benefit her as a person. Being alone helped her become more independent. She didn't need anyone to depend on since she had herself, and in the end that's all she needed. That boosted her self confidence and in the end made her feel validated. Her experience as a child also made her tough. She can fend off any obstacle in her way because she was forced to put off with them as a child.

Comprehension question 2: In paragraph 2 by saying “the only daughter, Cisneros is stating that she is the only girl among 6 brothers. In paragraph 3 by saying “only a daughter”, Cisneros is implying that she is less than her brothers because she is a girl.

The novel The House on Mango Street is filled to the brim with women who are unhappy and unsatisfied with their lives. Readers meet wives who are destined to spend their lives in the kitchen, mothers who waste away cleaning up after their kids, and girls who are stuck in a hole that they can’t escape. Through Sandra Cisneros’s use of literary devices such as motifs, symbolism, and imagery, we are able to learn that the women end up in these situations by conforming to femininity, and we find the theme of women are often held back by their own gender roles.

Imagine being continuously being watched by German soldiers in the 1940’s. That is what life was like in the book Number the Stars and the article “The Girl Who Lived Forever.” The book Number the Stars is about a Danish family helping save their Jewish friends the Rosens from the Nazi soldiers in Copenhagen. The book takes you through a long journey around Denmark as they fight for their freedom. The article “The Girl Who Lived Forever” is about a young, Jewish, girl Anne Frank who goes into hiding with her family.

The fact that "Our Daughter" was first published in Glamour magazine doesn't really change my view of the motives of the writing. Cisneros wanted to send a positive message to women who are in a similar situation as she was in when she was younger, in my opinion. To clarify, she may have wanted to tell her audience that pursuing what makes you happy does pay off in the long run because despite what her father thought she should use college for, Cisneros worked towards the job that gave her joy.