Salamanca Short Story Analysis

The bright colors caught my eye and the image reminded me a little of my hometown. Where I come from there's a large range of ethnicity and when I saw this lithograph it brought back old memories. Of when, I guess you can call them thugs, would drive up and down the streets of Dumas in there decked out lowriders thinking they were the coolest thing since sliced bread. In my opinion I always thought low riders were absurd and that they were a mark down to the cars real stature. Luis Jimenez's lithographs show a true style in which some people portray beauty with there cars.

Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. In the whole world, there are many different types of family. The broken ones, the chaotic ones, the ordinary ones and the extraordinary ones. In the novel Walk Two Moons, written by Sharon Creech, there are some families, and all of them are unique. There is Salamanca’s family, which used to live in Bybanks, Kentucky. Salamanca is the main character of the book, she went on a trip with her grandparents, it was the same her mother did before dying. Salamanca was an immature girl in the beginning of the novel, but throughout, she changed a lot. Her mother went on her own journey, and now Sal and her father lived alone. They decided to move to Euclid, Ohio, a big city with no nature around. Unfortunately, she has a broken family. On the other side, Ben, who was Sal’s classmate and boyfriend by the end of the novel, was considered the strange family. His mother was sick and needed to be in

When he got sick trying to protect their land, his Abuelita asked to take him home but refused and answered, “no, no, no. I want to help Mami with her dream house” (128). Carlos had wanted to prove to his mother that he wants her to stay badly, even if it could cost him his life.

In the story, 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis, the main character Julian has one big conflict that is his wish to please his father. Julian’s father, brothers, and Julian go out for a fishing trip in hopes to catch a big fish. Julian’s father specifically states to Julian that he must give the fishing line to him even if there is a slight nibble. They believe that by catching a big fish it will bring good luck for the new year. Julian wants to be the hero and prove to his family that he is capable of catching a big fish. While fishing, Julian finally got a nibble on the line but said nothing to his Dad about it and because it must have been such a large fish, the line snapped. In the book, it stated, “Every time I rewind and then

The book The Prince of Los Cocuyos can relate to my transition into college. The first time Richard Blanco came to America and felt out of place. College is all about experinces and getting to know yourself and learning who you really are. It is hard leaving high school and having to transition to college. Being used to teachers reminding you about assingments to now going online and having to remind yourself. As I begin to start my college experience I thought college would be easier no one telling you what you can and cant do, but its really not easier it might honestly be harder. Having to do so many assignments all at once. I feel like college is all about self motivation and being able to push yourself to work hard. Which I actually am

When we think about society there is often a stark contrast between the controversy projected in our media about the issues that our society faces and the mellow, safe view we have of our own smaller, more tangible ‘local’ society. This leads us to believe that our way of life is protected and our rights secured by that concept of society that has been fabricated and built upon during the course of our short lives. However, what if society were not what we perceive it to be, and the government chose to exercise its power in an oppressive manner? As a society we would like to think that we ourselves are above such cruelty, yet as The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera recounts the state of Cuba in the 1990’s so must we remember that all societies and governments view the individual differently as opposed to the whole. Each group has unique expectations that are enforced upon the individual goes beyond those expectations. The individual can very quickly find their rose glasses view of their society cracking before their very eyes as the reality of taking such a rise comes into view.

In the novel, “Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen” Reymundo Sanchez, talks about a woman’s perspective of her rough childhood experiences and how it led up to her being affiliated in one of the most notorious gangs in America, the Latin Kings. Sonia Rodriguez, was born into a low social economic class with very minimal opportunities. Not to mention, her household was not an ordinary house hold. In fact, it was a household filled with violence, drugs, no sense of love from her family members and abusive with no expectations of prosperity. Sonia was five years old when she was already having doubts about whether her mother loved her. At such a tender age, this little girl is having these thoughts about her mother not loving her demonstrates she would receive little or no love from her family. In fact, Sonia turned to receiving good academics to attempt and please her mom for love in return. This eventually fails, leading to her never getting that love from not just her mom, but the family. Sonia was viewed more as a scapegoat to the house hold then a family member. She was excessively punished for no reason with no trust from none of her family members. If something was occurring in the family for instance, her sister going out late or money missing she would the one to blame and severely punished, “She swore she hadn’t stolen from either Juan or her mother and continued to maintain her innocence even through the beatings she received whenever there was missing money”

At the beginning of the novel, Sal, the protagonist, faces life changing conflicts such as moving to Euclid, Ohio, adapting to new people, and wishing everything had not changed in the first place. For example, Sharon Creech shares, “Just over a year ago, my father plucked

Don’t Eat the Bear: A Spanish adventurer named Gaspar De Portola in 1769 passed through a region what is now Santa Barbara. In the near by sand dunes he found a lake where he crossed passed with an “oso flaco”, a skinny bear. They were dying of hunger and ate the skinny bear not knowing it was poisoned.

The movie Juarez, starring Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne and Claude Rains, has the perfect story line. There’s action, love, violence and heartbreak, but most importantly, it brings attention to a piece of history that is rarely recognized: monarchs in Mexico.

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.

A legion of horribles, hundreds in number, half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream with the skins of animals and silk finery and pieces of uniform still tracked with the blood of prior owners, coats of slain dragoons, frogged and braided cavalry jackets, one in a stovepipe hat and one with an umbrella and one in white stockings and a bloodstained wedding veil and some in headgear or cranefeathers or rawhide helmets that bore the horns of bull or buffalo and one in a pigeontailed coat worn backwards and otherwise naked and one in the armor of a Spanish conquistador, the breastplate and pauldrons deeply dented with old blows of mace or sabre done in another country by men whose very bones were dust

Spain during the 16th century has been described as a time of oppression, a time of exploitation of the subordinate class. For example, in the text of The Life of Lazarillo De Tormes a gluttonist priest offers Lazarillo scraps of an Eucharist bread, that was nibbled by mice. The priest tells Lazaro to take the bread, stating “There, eat that. The mouse is a clean animal.” This shows the how the higher class sees the lower class, it shows how they believe in offerings coming from them should be taken as a gift, even if a literal rodent has tampered with it. Most who could live during this this time usually were those who held high levels of intelligence and were also devious. Due to this, Lazarillo, being a man who holds the fore told

Marisol was written by Jose Rivera, premiering in 1992. He and other Latin American writers are known for creating works under magical realism. This genera of art traditionally depicts down and out suffering. He highlights topics about class, race and gender by skewing the reality the audience knows with allegory and symbolism. After the clash between the senile God and the Angels ensue, the New York becomes an unsettling dystopia. In this world, all foods are salt, it rains acid, and men can give birth. Throughout this desecrated world, the characters search for a way to keep on living. The actors portray these characters with honest intentions and clear acting choices, which allowed me to believe and empathize with their characters. After seeing this play, I understand that one cannot grow by dwelling in the past.

enemies would be left to rot, but in his own reality, he is doing the only