The Red Umbrella

Red Glass is a book about illegal immigration that is divided into seven parts; each accompanied by a quote from the The Little Prince by e. e. cummings. Sophie, her mother, Dika, and her step-father live by the Mexican border. She has always felt like an amoeba, like she doesn’t fit in with anyone else. She soon meets Pablo, Mr. Lorenzo, and Angel who each change her life forever. She travels through dangerous and beautiful places and meets wonderful people who change her outlook on life.

They say about families that if you knock on the door, they have to let you in. Family will always be there no matter what. The book, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, tells the true story of the four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa and their fight for freedom against the harsh dictator, Trujillo, in the Dominican Republic. In the book, Alvarez uses the theme of family loyalty to show that no matter what happens families fight and work for each other because they’re family no matter what. This ethic of loyalty to each other is shown throughout the book from the time when life is uncomplicated and simpler, to the most dangerous moments of the political resistance. The sisters never give up on each other and their families.

In the story The White Umbrella by Gish Jen, the narrator throws the white umbrella into the sewer. Even though she wanted the white umbrella it had been a burden for her. It had caused too much damage.

get older they start to realize what is really going on in the Dominican Republic. This book takes you

In the novel, we read through Richard Blanco’s childhood in Miami. Growing up in a family of Cubans is a challenge. Through his stories, he searches for identity and belonging. Blanco shares experiences, in which he finds a sense of self. He discusses the importance of being who you are no matter what. Through knowledge and experience, Richard Blanco and I have experienced “Coming of Age”. When you are in the process of this transition, you may go through some conflicts or struggles. These conflicts will most probably teach you life lessons. You will gain wisdom throughout these years, which will make you more mature.

The autobiography When I was Puerto Rican, written by Esmeralda Santiago, tells a story of a poor girl trying to succeed. The settings in this novel have an important influence on Esmeralda. They influence her behavior and change her ideals as an adult. Negi goes through many changes based on the challenges she faces by moving to new locations where society is different. All of these changes allow her to become a stronger person. When she lives in El Mangle, Negi has to face extreme prejudice against her upbringing as a jibara. When she leaves Puerto Rico to move to Brooklyn, she is forced to face an entirely different society. All of these events that took place in Esmeralda’s childhood had a significant impact in shaping her into an adult.

In the 1950s Cuba had a Revolution. There was many causes of the Cuban Revolution. The Cuban revolution lasted 6 years from 1953 through 1959, “included president Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, brutal suppression and poverty. These factors led to a revolution led by Fidel Castro to overthrow Batista and his government”. This is why this all started. This relates to the book because in the book Sonia’s parents die because of this revolution and its affecting her life because she doesn't want to let her kid go to war in Afghanistan. She lived in Cuba and she moved to the U.S because of the revolution and because her parents died in a revolution she doesn't want to lose her son just like she did with her parents. One of the reasons why Melinda

This novel has many connections to The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano because they both describe the struggle to find equality for minorities and the effort that is needed to be your true self. This novel discusses the topics of Slavery and women’s rights in Charleston, North Carolina during the 1800s and while The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano takes place during 1969, they both showcase a theme of discrimination throughout. The two novels are also both about growing up in places that are outdated and in need of socioeconomic change so that minorities are free from poverty and tyranny.

The effects of the Cuban Revolution on women’s lives and gender relations in Cuba from 1959 to 1990 include that some say women have not reached equality yet with men, women gained more opportunities for themselves, economy and politics, and also how women still had responsibility for children and home, not men.

Although the book’s titular character is Oscar de Leon, he shares chapters with his sister, his mother, his college roommate, Yunior (revealed to be the book’s narrator), and his mother’s parents, the Cabrals. By representing a family with different personalities—Oscar is overweight, and nerdy while Lola is powerful and independent, for example—Díaz creates a microcosm for all Dominican immigrants. Each chapter (and character) in the past is melded into the story in the present, and in this way, the momentum and excitement is never lost until the very last

Young upper middle class boys in Cuba had many freedoms due to the culture norms and lack of laws that allowed their behavior. President Batista held power before the revolution, and under his rule few laws regulated the life of upper middle class children. When Fidel Castro led Cuba into revolution, he focused more on reforms and did not pay much attention to young boys, allowing them to continue on in a similar way as before. When Castro’s reforms began to affect the upper middle class way of life, children began to see direct effects of Castro’s revolution. Carlos Eire wrote ‘Waiting for Snow in Havana’ about his first hand experiences as a young upper middle class boy during Castro’s rise to power. In the high society world of Cuba

The Effects of the Cuban Revolution on Women’s lives and Gender relations in Cuba from 1959 to 1990

Rafael Trujillo, a Dominican dictator, developed a harsh reputation as being one of the most violent and domineering leaders of South America in his thirty-one years of power. In The Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez provides insight into the effects of Trujillo’s infamy by sharing the stories of three Dominican sisters and their struggles to gain independence and speak their truth. The Dominican-American author dramatizes the lives of the Mirabal sisters, three historical women who were assassinated in 1961, for their involvement in the anti-Trujillo movement. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria, a Cuban critic of Latin American literature, provides a bias insight with regards to the novel.

Julia Alvarez also uses language to show how the four Garcia girls adjust to living in a new, and to them alien, culture. The protagonist in this novel is the family Garcia de la Torre, a wealthy, aristocratic family from the Santo Domingo, who can trace their genealogy back to the Spanish

Under the Black Umbrella tells the many captivating stories about the 35 years of Japanese occupation in Korea through both world wars. The memories are all from the perspective of Korean men and women who lived through some or all of it. Many of their stories and the history during that time are influenced by several factors, some of which include their location in Korea or surrounding areas and the government’s involvement in recording history. The Japanese were not all awful to the Koreans, since they were humans all the same, but they committed enough atrocities to have a bad reputation with the Koreans. In attempts to unify, North Koreans employed nationalism and ethnocentrism to fuel their way to become a strong nation again. South Koreans did not rally around such extreme ways and did not utilize their northern brethren’s methods of fear for power. Back then and now, globalization is a part of life and it should not be stifled. Nationalistic thinking will bring about more pain and suffering rather than just trying to coexist. Korea faced many hardships with the Japanese occupation. In recovery to their rule, issues arose when it came to accuracy in history, nationalism, ethnocentrism, and the different roles they all took between the north and the south.