The Play Los Vendidos By Luis Valdez

Josie Mendez-Negrete’s novel, Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, is a very disturbing tale about brutal domestic abuse and incest.  Negrete’s novel is an autobiography regarding experiences of incest in a working-class Mexican American family.  It is Josie Mendez-Negrete’s story of how she, her siblings, and her mother survived years of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.  “Las Hijas de Juan" is told chronologically, from the time Mendez-Negrete was a child until she was a young adult trying, along with the rest of her family, to come to terms with her father 's brutal legacy. It is a upsetting story of abuse and shame compounded by cultural and linguistic isolation and a system of patriarchy that devalues the

The short play Los Vendidos portrayed by el Teatro Campesino shows the history of Mexican-Americans. It shows racist perceptions and actions towards Mexican-Americans. The title itself implies the exploitation of Chicanos. In translation from Spanish "Vendidos" can mean either those who sell-out others, or those who are sold. In the play either meaning can be applied. Those who are sold would be the eleven different characters that Sancho describes. But, the "sell-out" could be Ms. Jimenez, a main character, who is the exemplary "white-washed" Mexican-American.

Stereotypes are the shackles that keep masses of people unable to be free in the world. One of the main themes illustrated through the play is the basis of stereotyping in America and how it has and continues to affect chicanos. Valdez’s definition of actos is “to inspire others to take social action”, the playwright successfully fulfils his definition through the dialogues and events he describes. The dehumanizing way that Valdez introduces all of the characters in the play solidifies the pressure they feel to assimilate and why many resist assimilation. In the play Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez, the author fulfills his own unique definition of actos in the play by showcasing some of the stereotypes and prejudices held against Mexican Americans to illustrate the real social standards that are placed upon them.

In my analysis of this novel, The Adventure of Don Chipote or, When Parrots Breast-Feed by Daniel Venegas, I kept in mind that Nicolás Kanellos put great effort into getting this novel circulated in Spanish and in English. Kanellos argues that Spanish-language immigrant novels more accurately present the “evils” of American society such as oppression of the immigrant workers and deconstructs the myth of the American Dream, which permeates in English-language ethnic autobiographies. I believe Kanellos felt so passionately about circulating this particular novel was due to the fact that in Venegas’ novel we see clear representations of the three U.S. Hispanic cultures that Kanellos presents which are the native, the immigrant, and the exile cultures.

In the essay, “Joyas Voladoras,” the author, Brian Doyle, wrote about the emotional heart and the biology of a heart. He starts the book off talking about hummingbirds’ hearts and the amazing things they can do. After talking about hummingbirds, he changes the subject to whales and how big they are and how big their hearts are. After the subject of whales, he talks about how different types of living creatures have different amounts of heart chambers and hearts and how every living thing has liquid moving inside. After talking about the heart chambers and functions, he started talking about the heart as in emotions. Doyle’s son, Liam, was born with three chambers in his heart, so he probably wrote “Joyas Voladoras” to convey that all hearts no matter how many chambers are in it, all work the same.

Many activists began to shun their alleged white ethnic background and the assimilation?s ideas. A play, written by Ysidro Ramón Macias called The Ultimate Pendejada criticized the assimilation idea and stressed a Chicano identity which focused more on the indigenous and African roots of Mexican heritage.

Throughout the play there are underlying theme that suggest different ideas. The themes I will discuss is how Mexican American men are portrayed in relation

Lazarillo de Tormes is a famous work of Spanish literature published anonymously. The novel is written in the first person. Lazarillo de Tormes is known as a picaresque novel in that the novel is written about a character of the lower-class instead of a hero or upper-class character. The novel has several themes, but the theme that is constant throughout the novel is appearance versus reality. The author utilizes several rhetorical devices in the novel which add emphasis to the story. The novel, which was banned by the Spanish Crown during the time of the Spanish inquisition, is the story of the birth and life Lazarillo de Tormes as he serves various masters and his struggle for survival. His struggles are real. Many of the rhetorical devices serve to add humor to the novel as well.

“Aguantando” means holding on. In the very first paragraph we see how important it is for the narrator, Yunior, to hold on to his father’s memory. Yunior lives with his mother (Mami), grandfather (Abuelo) and brother (Rafa). They live in a house where anything of value, including furniture, food, clothing and even Mami’s Bible is stained from a leaky roof. As a Hispanic male, believe me when I tell you there is nothing more sacred than Mami’s Bible in that home. Yet it is clear how important Papi’s pictures are because they’re always in a plastic sandwich bag to keep them dry. It’s also clear that Papi leaving was the

Sabina Berman is a notable and critically acclaimed Mexican playwright. Berman’s notable work includes her first published play, Yankee (1979). In Adam Versényi’s translation of Yankee, Berman explores the relationship between the individual and identity. Through the three main characters—Bill, Alberto, and Rosa—we see the continual conflict they face as they aspire to achieve their respective objectives: to feel nurtured and loved, to have peace and quiet, and to feel loved and acknowledged. But it is Berman’s interjection of juxtapositions that forces us to analyze the relationship between the main characters. More specifically, Berman focuses on the impact Bill has as an intruder, and how he highlights the national identity incompatibilities between North American and Mexican cultures, to expose the serious social and political problems between the nations.

Brian Doyle's Joyas Voladoras first appeared in The American Scholar in 2004 and was later selected for Best American Essays in 2005. Doyle’s intended audience is the general population, though his writing style attracts both the logical reader and the hopeless romantics who seek metaphors pointing to love in any way. The beginning of the essay provides insight to general information about the hummingbird, which holds the smallest, capable, and fragile heart in the world. He then explains the significance of the blue whale’s heart with comparisons, indicating that the blue whale holds a heart the size of a room. He ends his essay by expressing that a human’s heart is always closed due to the fear of it breaking, remaining constantly

Luis Valdez wrote “Los Vendidos” in order to address his view of the Mexican culture and in reference to the prejudices that surrounded him. The play defines four versions of Mexican men, shop owner Honest Sancho is trying to sell to a Secretary in Governor Reagan’s political office. The buildup of characters: The Farmworker, Johnny Pachuco, The Revolucionario, and the Mexican-American, symbolizes an evolution of what society deems the “ideal” Mexican-American should be. “Los Vendidos” translates to "The Sold Ones" or "The Sellouts” which is a solid interpretation of Valdez’s opinion on Mexican’s conformity to the American culture. Valdez creates a distinct characterization of all four models, Miss Jimenez, and Honest Sancho with snarky

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

The human heart is very beneficial for lifestyle. Not only does it help us for structural purposes, it can also help us and others know what people are going through. In the end, these two purposes of the heart can make or break us as people. In Brian Doyle’s excerpt “Joyas Voladoras” the author is trying to explain that our hearts can choose how we want to live our lives and helps us feel emotions.

Las Meninas (Maids of Honor) by Diego Velazquez, is a Bourque style Spanish painting from the 1700’s, which is known as Velazquez’s masterpiece as an artist and his life as a court painter. Some say Las Meninas is, “This work, one of the most perfect fac-similes of nature that art has ever produced, and which Girodano called la teologia de la pintura, is among the latest productions of the artist” (Curtis 14). Velazquez’s masterpiece was so highly endorsed by many, thus is why Las Meninas was referenced as the la teologia de la pintura, also known as the theology of the painting, which is a great honor to receive. The painting portrays the royal family’s daughter and her servants posing for what looks to be, Diego painting a portrait on a large canvas. However, a reflection of a mirror in the background shows the royal parents, King Philip IV of Spain and his Queen Mariana watches over Velazquez as he works, thus gives off the illusion that they are looking at this from outside the painted area (audience view). According to Albert Fredrick Calvert, “Velazquez painted the scene for us to view as it must have appeared to the royal parents. With them we gaze at the sunlight-flooded space where the child drama is enacted” (Calvert 165). While it has been highly questioned throughout the years, whether the portrayal of the portrait is of the royal daughter and her servants or if it is a portrait of the royal parent’s reflection, thus is what makes this painting one of Velazquez’s greatest pieces of work. Diego’s vision for this masterpiece was to show what his life and career has become as a celebrated artist, therefore holding court by paying homage to himself and the royal family by adding himself into the family portrait.