Sharon Solomon
February 14, 2015
Professor Joewono
English II
Public Life in Orozco’s The Orientation
It is amazing how one person can lead two lives at the same time, one public and the other private. Public life is the aspect of life which is happening in the open, as opposed to the private life which is happening in the closed family environment. The coexistence of public and private lives are what help an individual lead a smooth life altogether. In Daniel Orozco’s The Orientation, the relationship between public and private life is well portrayed. Using setting, characters and point of view, Daniel Orozco cleverly showcases the degradation of the thin line that once separated the two lives and indicates the one may or may not have a strong impact on the other.
Daniel Orozco is well known for his exceptional works in fiction. The Orientation, one of his famous short stories made a debut in the collection, Orientation and Other stories. (Orozco) In accordance to the title, the story is situated around an orientation that is taking place in an office setting. In this short story a new employee is being taken around the office and introduced to the office community and its rules and regulations. The narrator, the one giving the orientation begins with, “Those are the offices and these are the cubicles. That’s my cubicle there, and this is your cubicle.” (Orozco) This seems very generic for an orientation and Orozco’s choice of setting also makes the story more relatable.
Shanell Bathersfield conducted a self-assessment. She initially determined that the systems theory was one that she was not comfortable with. Through the last few course weeks, she was able to gain an in-depth perspective on several theories that are impactful in the social work field. The coursework and utilizing Juana and Adelina as case studies, truly gave an exclusive insight on how theories are used to understand the client’s circumstances and improve their well-being.
Frequently, we do not put too much attention to our own cultural values and traditions until we are exposed to a different culture, and start comparing. In order to have a more productive and fruitful life I believe we need to become more self-aware and more sensitive to the culturally and ethnically diverse community we live in. Two cultures that have been sharing the same living space for centuries are the Hispanic and American culture. In this paper I would be analyzing each culture giving a brief background and pointing out some aspects in how they differ, like the perception of time, family, orientation, and others. American culture has a couple of aspects in which it differs from the Hispanic culture, which for the
Since the death of his wife, Jorge has become isolated and alienated from his community. He has lost interest in religious and cultural activities and stopped participating in activities of daily living (ADL’S). He feels
As children grow up in a dysfunctional family, they experience trauma and pain from their parent’s actions, words, and attitudes. With this trauma experienced, they grew up changed; different from other children. The parent’s behavior affects them and whether they like it or not, sometimes it can influence them, and they can react against it or can repeat it. In Junot Díaz’s “Fiesta, 1980”, is presented this theme of the dysfunctional family. The author presents a story of an adolescent Latin boy called Junior, who narrates the chronicles of his dysfunctional family, a family of immigrants from the Dominican Republic driving to a party in the Bronx, New York City. “Papi had been with
In the story, Orientation, wrote by Daniel Orozco, he captures the true spirit of the stereotypical workplace, by using the lack of dialogue, humor, and repetition. The story conveys a sense of workplace alienation. This story is all about the tension between people’s essential identity, crucial interconnectedness, and collaboration required of workers. He shows a new employee the ropes. It features a deadpan mix of senseless instructions. Orozco describes the absurd work environment, and he shows the readers to see the wide variety of social absurdities that employees can find in the workplace. Orozco gives a lot information about the work expectations and his co-workers’ private life; he also implies some perspectives about bullying in his workplace. He brings out the typical office affair to reflect human relationships.
One thing all human beings, have in common is the struggle for self identity. Children are raised by parents or guardians who have struggled and fought for their own identities. In many cases, parents are still trying to figure it out, while raising their own children. Such is the case with the characters in Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The theme of identity is conveyed through the characters’ Dominican culture, social standing, and in finding love. Oscar, Lola, and Yunior are three central characters in Oscar Wao, who’s Dominican cultural and family expectations were major obstacles as they struggled to establish their identity.
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.
Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban tells the story about three generations of a Cuban family and their different views provoked by the Cuban revolution. Though part of the same family, an outsider might classify them as adversaries judging by relationships between one another, the exiled family members, and the differentiations between political views. Although all of these central themes reoccur over and over throughout the narrative, family relationships lie at the heart of the tale. The relationships between these Cuban family members are for the most part ruptured by any or a combination of the above themes.
One thing all human beings have in common is the struggle for self identity. Children are raised by parents or guardians who have struggled and fought for their own identities. In many cases, parents are still trying to figure it out, while raising their own children. Such is the case with the characters in Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The theme of identity is conveyed through the characters’ Dominican culture, social standing, and in finding love. Oscar, Lola, and Yunior are three central characters in Oscar Wao, who’s Dominican cultural and familial expectations were major obstacles as they struggled to establish their identity.
Continuing in the theme of conformity; if the boys are united by their heteronomy, Cuellar’s castration, in contrast, is the source of his ostracism. His unfortunate accident is a wound that ‘time opens instead of closes’, and as the story progresses, Vargas Llosa juxtaposes the boys socially inclusive youthful pastimes of football and studying mentioned earlier in the novel with his comparatively solitary penchant for the ocean and surfing “a puro pecho o con colchón” (94) in chapter five. In this passage, his distance from the others is symbolised by the isolation of the sea; the narrator says the water “se lo tragó” (95) and later, the boys state that “se perdió” (96). Clearly, Cuellar’s failure to partake in the testosterone fuelled rituals of sexual maturity in the city has seen him shunned from the rest of the boys and resigned to hanging out with “rosquetes, cafichos y pichicateros” (96) instead – the modern, metropolitan outcasts. Evidently, Cuellar is incapacitated by this highly heteronormative lifestyle, as the inherent masculinity of the city is a fixed identity that will perpetually exclude him, or anyone else who cannot fulfil Peruvian societies idea of gender appropriate behaviour.
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
This paper explores the issues of Hector Sanchez and Celia Sanchez. Hector Sanchez is the patriarch of the Sanchez Family, who is struggling with various issues such as his health as well as employment and financial instability. Celia Sanchez is the wife of Hector and the matriarch of the Sanchez Family. Celia is struggling to provide for her family in lieu of their financial troubles as well as her husband’s ailing health which caring for his needs as well as her own. The goal of this paper is to analyze the issues affecting Hector and Celia Sanchez through the Person-in-Environment
In the beginning of Daniel Orozco's "Orientation," a new employee is getting a walkthrough of the office and instructions on how to survive the workplace. Throughout the story, the speakers provides instructions, such as where to put completed work and where to find the restrooms. Using the absurd, Orozco uses dark humor in "Orientation" to parallel corporate environments and paints a picture and the effects of working in a corporate office. Orozco's "Orientation" suggests that office environments are less than ideal and leads to detachment, unhappiness, and anxiety.
Daniel Orozco’s short story “Orientation” is a comedic type of piece written to make you feel like you’re the main character being led through this maze of rules and cubicles and employees, as well as their lives all at once. It’s not really clear who is the narrator in this story, but what is clear is that Orozco chose to tell the story through the eyes of the reader. The whole point of view takes us (the audience) for a ride and makes us a character. If it was written differently and not told the way it has, the story would have lost its humor and quirkiness. It’s a very interesting and different away to incorporate all these pieces of a puzzle that is the “Office Orientation” and
Daniel establishes the setting throughout the story as being in an office. He gives that indication with his first sentence being, “Those are the offices and these are the cubicles.”(1). As the story goes on he is telling the reader where things are located in the office by saying, “This is the fire exit.” and also, “This is our kitchenette.”(2). Along with the location of things comes rules attached, “If you make an emergency phone call without asking, you may be let go.” “Feel free to ask questions. Ask too many questions, however, and you may be let go.”(1). Most notably the mundane setting of the office changes when he takes the reader to the copier room. Orozco tells how the southwest view overlooks the park, and you can see the bay and sunset. He quickly makes it known that this view will only be enjoyed while photocopying. Putting strict limitations on a person can inevitably cause them to seek validation and self-expression in other avenues.