Narrative Structure and Point of View in Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch

In this excerpt from the novel under the feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes, we are introduced to a young girl named Estrella. Throughout the excerpt Estrella’s character changes and develops in many ways. The author reveals these changes through her usage of literary devices such as selection of detail, figurative language, as well as tone.

In Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, the play of light and shadow are reoccurring motifs that identify and relate to the general themes of remembering and forgetting. H. Porter Abbott has defined motif as “a discrete thing, image, or phrase that is repeated in a narrative”, where in contrast, a theme “is a more generalized…concept that is suggested by… motifs” (237). Abbott emphasizes that “Themes are implicit in motifs, but not the other way around” (95). In In the Skin of a Lion, Ondaatje emphasizes the class struggles endured by the immigrant workers and the internal struggles faced by the central characters. The motif of chiaroscuro, the play of light and shadow, reflects how the characters try to forget their past and personal burdens, and strive to recall joyful memories, which aides them in embracing new beginnings and creating new memories. I will argue that the motif of light relates to the theme of remembering and the motif of shadow identifies with the theme of forgetting. I will show these relationships by analyzing the imagery and context of four central scenes in which light and shadow play a significant role. Firstly, I will discuss the event of the nun falling off the unfinished bridge. Secondly, I will consider the candle-light vigil held for the deceased bridge works. Thirdly, I will discuss the working conditions of the tunnel workers in the section “Palace of Purification”, and lastly, I will analyze the concluding scene in which Patrick and Hana

Before the 15th century, the Indians in the Americas were not connected with the world and would remain that way until Columbus's exploration. In the beginning of 15th century, the Aztecs were the dominant group in Mesoamerica leaded by Montezuma, the last leader, before the Spanish conquest. In 1519, Hernan Cortez led the Spanish mission to explore and conquer the New World. This paper will compare three primary sources about this event. First, an informing letter sent from Cortez to King Charles V, the king of Spain. Second, the Broken Spears which is an Indian recollection about the conquest of Mexico. Lastly, Bernal Diaz’s (one of Cortez’s men) account was written by him to share his experience with Aztec

In the play by Federico Garcia Lorca, The House of Bernarda Alba, a recurring theme throughout the play is freedom. Lorca expresses freedom using characters, situations and objects. The characters in the story are Bernarda’s daughters who are under her control and have extremely little freedom and privacy by being forced to abide by her rules. Freedom and Repression are most significant themes conveyed throughout the play, the two opposing themes together are important to understanding both the characters and the story as well.

To some, Billy Collins’ The Rain in Portugal may seem to be a collection of random poems that have no correlation. At first sight, an individual may be confused while skimming through this book as to what the poems mean and how they all piece together. The poems in The Rain in Portugal all have one aspect in common; there is no rhyme scheme. Not a single poem rhymes with the next, let alone within itself. By doing this, Collins breaks the normality of basic poem writing—lines having to rhyme with one another—and explores his own take on free verse writing, which leaves the audience to form their own interpretation of the work. Majority of the poems within the book correlate with the speaker either reminiscing back in time, getting lost in the thought of the present, or predicting events of the future, which somehow include his reoccurring feeling of loneliness. Though this book has three different sections, each with its own collection of poems, the theme of loneliness is inserted within each section with one or two poems solely focusing on this topic. As a whole, this book provokes the audience to think and examine more in depth what Collins is attempting to portray through his seemingly simplistic writing.

The beginning of this area in Gloria Anzaldúa’s composition is about the Coatlicue State. She depicts Coatlicue as the Aztec goddess of life and death. Coatlicue conflicts with herself in having the ability to take away life and give it. Anzaldúa reprocesses the goddess’s picture to regard her personal identity battle: being a woman who is also Latina. Her conflict makes me contemplate my inner struggle amongst myself. My entire life I was raised in an upper-class community with no true insight of how lower classes lived. I became a little more aware of how lower classes lived in high school but it was not until I went to college that I was able to experience being part of their class. It is funny how I was raised one way my whole life but as I began to experience a different manner of living, it was weird to go back to the habits I grew up with even though I know them more than my new ones. Like Anzaldúa, I feel odd sometimes when I go back to the city I grew up in. I know that my comparison is different, but Anzaldúa’s words about duality make me think of the oddness I experience when I am in my hometown with my birth class.

In Julio Cortazar’s short story, Axolotl, the young man is searching for answers to his life. He finds these answers in the small, Mexican salamander trapped within its enclosure at the Jardin. The axolotl challenges the young man to see the simplicity behind the mysterious guise of the small amphibian. The young man’s daily visits to the Jardin only make the appeal of the axolotls greater. In those visits he begins to see not only the creatures simplicity, but also their neotenous tendencies and connection to death; all of which contribute to his association and union with them.

The ending of a novel can be evaluated by the reader in several different ways, however to properly analyze the work is to further explore the logic of how everything has come to be. The ability of the author to show the reader that the ending is reasonable from the preceding action and the character’s nature is what should truly be examined. Not only is the ending of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz both happy and unhappy, it is logical in the sense that it follows logically from the climax of the novel all while the character’s have been constant throughout, except Oscar. Oscar, the protagonist experiences a life-changing transformation that leads to his untimely death. However, the ending is convincing because of this

Estrella’s development is portrayed through Viramontes’ selection of detail, specifically choosing tools and Perfecto Flores. The first representation of Viramontes’ selection of detail is Estrella’s opinion of the tools. In the beginning of the excerpt, Estrella describes the tools as “confusing and foreign” symbolizing her struggle with literacy and understanding her culture. In the end, Estrella realizes the “power of [the tool’s] function” representing her knowledge of the alphabet and its importance in reading. The second representation of Viramontes’ selection of detail is Estrella’s opinion of Perfecto Flores. In the beginning, Estrella is confused about Perfecto, asking “so what is this about?” This symbolizes her confusion with the alphabet and her teachers’ view of dirtiness. In the end, Perfecto’s purpose becomes clear through his “job well done.” Perfecto’s clarity represents Estrella’s knowledge of the

However, fiction is essential to the culture that it is portrayed in. It can show and educate the reader the daily life or hardships of one culture, allowing them to understand in a greater sense. Fiction also gives us the opportunity to experience the possibility of other choices without making those choices, especially as readers we are immersed in the political protests that the girls go through and partake. Alvarez did not write the book merely to entertain her readers, but to help readers learn about themselves and educate them about the Trujillo regime and keep the spirit of the Mirabal sisters alive. Without a novel like this, the world may never know how important the sisters were. They died as true heroes, and Alvarez believes that their story needs to be spread. The true spirit of the Mirabal sisters is their legacy. They are portrayed in a positive light because they did help change the future that we live in today, and if we share important history and stories, such as the Mirabal sisters, we are able to live vicariously through them and honor their selfless

The Other is configured in the two writers’ works as victims of power play, their unjust mistreatment subsequently exposing underlying social inequalities. Through adopting the Gothic medium characteristic of Romanticism, the texts induce within the reader emotions of terror and pity towards the marginalised, leaving a profound effect which impactfully conveys the intended social criticism.

I will present today the reasons why I chose this short story called “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar. A story not related directly with my culture which is Dominican but it is Hispanic which could be the same in some aspects. First of all, this is a story set in Argentina and it centers on a brother and his sister. The siblings lived in a big family home, which has been in the family for generations. Both of them are in their forties and have never been married. They spend their days cleaning and then doing what makes them happy. She knits all day and the brother loves to read French Literatures. The following quote would be a physical memory of the brother remember his days in his house “It was a pleasant to take a lunch and commune with the great hollow, silent house, and it was enough for us just to keep it clean. We ended up thinking, at times, that that was what had kept us from marrying. Irene turned down two suitors for no particular reason, and Maria Esther went and died on me before we could manage to get engaged” (Cortazar, p.689). One night they heard noises and they refused to go where the noises are originated from, therefore they decided to leave the house and basically left us with the question of who took over their house? I made some connections between this story and my culture back to my childhood. All those anecdotes that my parents and grandparents used to tell me about the way how people lived before and actually now. The FEAR always has been

it was a hot sunny morning, It's been awhile since i have been out here ,Carlos said.

In this essay I am going to discuss whether or not we can consider Lazarillo de Tormes as a subversive text and the reasons behind why or why not we may believe it to be so. To accomplish this, I will explore the background behind Lazarillo, the different methods and literary devices used to convey dual meaning and give the text an undertone of subversion.

“Horse Money” is the new drama from the celebrated Portuguese filmmaker, Pedro Costa, author of the remarkable trilogy based in Fontainhas, an impoverished neighborhood in Lisbon, which includes “Ossos”, “In Vanda’s Room”, and “Colossal Youth”. This time the subject is a bit different, but Mr. Costa retrieves Ventura from his last film. This man, played by himself, is a confused Cape Verdean immigrant, a retired bricklayer, who was admitted in a Lisbon’s hospital where he keeps escaping through the gloomy back passageways, losing track of the space and the time, and being haunted by ghostly presences of his past. To complement the disquieting phantasmagoric images, we’re granted part of the disorder that goes on Ventura’s head. These particular