The Scent Of Hot Soft Bread Polluted Essay

I had the pleasure to read two incredible essays, one by Ann Quinland titled “Homeless” and another titled “Tortillas” by Jose Antonio Burciaga. The essay I chose to respond to is “Tortillas” by Jose Antonio Burciaga because of the similarities that the Mexican culture and African culture share. In this essay, Burciaga discusses the role of the tortillas within his family’s culture. Tortillas have been a staple of Mexican cooking for thousands of years.

Enrique’s journey from Honduras to the U.S. unveils the innate loyalty of a loving child to their mother and presents the dangers that a migrant faces on the road with consistent angst; nevertheless, it supports the idea that compassion shown by some strangers can boost the retreating confidence within a person. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” he seeks the beacon of light that all migrants hope to encounter; “El Norte.” Like many children before him, it is the answer to the problems of a hard life. While being hunted down “like animals” leading to “seven futile attempts,” he is

In his essay Bajadas, Francisco Cantu explores the physical and emotional landscapes that shift during his time as a United States border control agent. He candidly writes about his experiences, using imagery to describe the physical landscape of New Mexico in a way that mirrors his own emotional landscape and answers the question that he grapples with most. Cantu writes, “There are days when I feel I am becoming good at what I do. And then I wonder, what does it mean to be good at this? I wonder sometimes how I might explain certain things…” (7). This important question is what drives Bajadas; it is what compels Cantu to write so vulnerably. Through a journal-like structure, Cantu details what his job requires of him and the way he treats

Although I had sufficient meals in morning and evening, I was still hunger during day time. I played tennis on Wednesday. While running on the court, I felt extremely dehydrated and starving. When I hit the ball, I suddenly felt that I was going to fall down because I was shaky and exhausted. I ran to the bathroom and squatted down. I was overwhelmed by my weakness that a sense of insecurity surrounded me. “I am weak”, I told myself, “I can not do this”. I suddenly reflected on my experience in Yemen. I was sitting in the car while I witnessed refugee children knocking on my window and tirelessly begging for food. In their eyes, I saw no anger but fear. All they worried about were the basic need of living: food. Many people, nowadays, fast to lose weight. For them, fasting shows their courage and persistence. They lose the sympathy to the poor who starve to death. However, many poor people, including labors and refugees, have to do heavy manual work for livings. In addition to physical pain, the poor also suffer mentally. For instance, the refugee children are always worrying about their next meals with no sense of secure. They have no hope to their futures. With the experience of working in hunger, I am able to relate my feelings to poor people’s feelings and show empathy toward them.

People in Central America especially, long to have their basic necessities met. Visiting Guatemala and Mexico at the age of ten was a hard site to see. Kids walking on the street barefoot not because they wanted to, but they had no money to buy shoes. Making their dirty feet ache at night. Wearing the same clothes full of filth because they could not afford to buy clothes and soap. Parents struggling to provide for their family. They would often sent their child to school without lunch, making it hard for the student to concentrate at school. Any little money counts and they would make it last. Yet they were so welcoming and loving to guest. They had nothing to offer but the little they had they would offer. Family’s full of frustration and no hope turn to the journey of going to “el Norte”. Hoping to have a better life and help their family improve their social status.

Alejandrez begins his essay with a story from his childhood. He sets up the story by giving it a time and place he is the son of a migrant worker born in a cotton field in Merigold, Mississippi. He then describes his difficult childhood using vivid language, as the son of a migrant worker he had to move many times a year and assimilate into many different schools. His family had to make ends meet with the little money they had so most of the time that meant having no shoes or one pair of pants. The social climate was also very tense, he describes it as “ I always remembered my experience in Texas, where

Gloria Anzaldúa writes of a Utopic frame of mind, the borderlands created in and lived in by the new mestiza. She describes the preexisting natures of the Anglos, Mexicanos, and Chicanos as seen around the southwest U.S. / Mexican border, indicative of the nations at large. She also probes the borders of language, sexuality, psychology and spirituality. Anzaldúa presents this information in various identifiable ways including the autobiography, historical/informative essay, and poetry. What is unique to Anzaldúa is her ability to weave a ‘perfect’ kind of compromised state of mind that melds together the preexisting cultures while simultaneously formulating a fusion of genres that stretches previously

Each year, thousands of Central American immigrants embark on a dangerous journey from Mexico to the United States. Many of these migrants include young children searching for their mothers who abandoned them. In Enrique’s Journey, former Los Angeles Times reporter, Sonia Nazario, recounts the compelling story of Enrique, a young Honduran boy desperate to reunite with his mother. Thanks to her thorough reporting, Nazario gives readers a vivid and detailed account of the hardships faced by these migrant children.

Tomas Rivera in “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him…” depicts the harsh life migrant workers and their families endure to make a living. Extreme poverty and squalid working conditions debilitated the migrant physically, morally, and spiritually. Perseverance is shown throughout this story demonstrating the strength of character the migrants had in facing their turmoil’s. Rivera, depicts a troubled boy questioning his life and lamenting the plight he and his family live. Peace is given to the young man when he accepts his life. Through the use of conflict and symbolism, Rivera demonstrates the hardships faced by migrant workers, and the courage to endure injustice in exchange for a chance to prosper financially.

Poverty is a transmittable disease; it begins with parents and spreads to children and the people around them. It could obliterate a flawless society and affect everyone and everything around it. It is akin to a genetic code that is pre-written and out of human control. Everywhere people look, children can be seen with bones protruding out of their flesh, yet these children are the most hard-working beings alive. Poverty is a global issue that every member of humanity has dealt with at some point in time, and it is more likely that someone will help another in need after being helped themselves.

The story illustrates the overlapping influences of women’s status and roles in Mexican culture, and the social institutions of family, religion, economics, education, and politics. In addition, issues of physical and mental/emotional health, social deviance and crime, and social and personal identity are

Enrique’s Journey focuses and sheds more light and understanding on the aspects and challenges of extreme poverty, family abandonment, systematic issues of an immigration system and what one has to go through in the face of adversity. The book centers on Enrique who starts out as a young boy living in extreme poverty in Honduras with his family. Enrique is an older adolescent, Hispanic, poverty economic status, unemployed most times, and is in a relationship with one child. This case study will further look at Enrique’s personal experiences from a young child up to young adulthood and how that has shaped his development has a person from coming from such difficult environmental circumstances. This will also look at the different environmental perspectives in the micro, mezzo and macro level when pertaining to effects on human behavior.

The book “Fresh Fruits, broken bodies, Migrant Farmers in the United States By Seth Holms, is about Triqui migrants, who migrated up and down the west coast of the United States and Mexico, traveling between rural hometowns in Oaxaca and ideas of industrialized agricultural production in California and Washington. From reading this, he came to an understanding that the ethnography of how they made a living, the sorts of problems and harassment they faced, and the dreadful realities of a food system made on the backs of poor migrant workers.  He experienced how the poor suffered taking a hint from his informers, who warned Holmes that crossing the border is a particular kind of suffering, that he needed to hold in order to understand their lives.

With the increase of Mexican immigrants present around Topanga Canyon, the residents of the suburban gated community, Arroyo Blanco, begin to feel as though their suburban space and spatial identities are being threatened. In an effort to combat that threat, the residents of Arroyo Blanco redefine their space and build a wall around their community. Through Arroyo Blanco's residents' Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher's experiences with Cándido Rincón, José Navidad, and the coyotes surrounding the Arroyo Blanco community of Topanga Canyon, Boyle conveys the futility of erecting walls as a way to preserve suburban space and suburban spatial identities in a post-suburban environment like Los Angeles.

It was a stressful day for young Ms. Slavi White, a seventh grade blond girl at Linton Middle School. This was mostly due to the fact that a male classmate named Manny Freeman had been stalking her since 6th grade. Manny had a huge crush on her, and constantly strived to get her attention by stuffing tons of love letters into her cubbies and emailing her obscene photos. Due to Manny’s desperation, Slavi felt uneasy and was also disgusted in him. Slavi thought he smelled like rotten cheese all the time and looked as if he was raised by hobos. He always wore the same shirt and pants that were covered in dirt and mud. His greasy, clumpy hair looked like his last bath was ages ago. In addition, Manny wasn’t a good student.