ipl-logo

Alienation In Gary Soto's Black Hair

803 Words4 Pages

In Gary Soto’s autobiographical piece “Black Hair,” he portrays a feeling of alienation. He describes a feeling of disconnection towards both his Hispanic coworkers, due to his language barrier, and feeling apart from the middle class family due he rented a room with, due to socio-economic status. Like Soto, I had a period in my life where I felt alienated from the environment I was in. My particular experience with this feeling of isolation took place in middle school, involving a group of girls that I had been friends with since Kindergarten. I had been glued to the hip with these girls since we were still wearing diapers, tapping away in our tap shoes at our dance classes together. As we grew older, we each displayed our unique talents …show more content…

I was exposed to a high-intensity of competitiveness and the attitudes that came along with it. My perspective on life and my personality were both changing quickly and I was beginning to like the person I was becoming. I was able to hold conversations and became much more social than I previously was too shy to accomplish. This newfound confidence solidified my feeling of separation between myself and the group of girls. Suddenly, the connection I felt with them all the years prior began to fade and it felt like I was talking to strangers whenever we communicated. At the time, this had such a huge impact on my life. I was in my peak year of middle school, I was starting to figure out who I was, and these were people I had grown up with and whose company I felt familiar with. I had decided to branch out and do something that I had not felt comfortable enough in my own skin to do. Receiving judgement for my own personal leap of faith, taught me that happiness within yourself is the most important happiness you can have. This made me think of myself as a strong person. My “friends” were not happy that something that brought me joy and more confidence. Consequently, I lost these friends but instead, made a handful more. I not only gained friends from cheerleading, but my new social-butterfly personality gave me the ability to

Show More
Related

Best Of Friends Worlds Apart Analysis

802 Words | 4 Pages

Race and ethnicity as socially-constructed categories separates friends from the same background. In the article “Best of Friends, Worlds Apart,” Cuban immigrant Joel Ruiz finds himself stuck between two worlds after landing on American soil. Ruiz’s childhood friend Valdes traveled to the United States together and settled down near one another. Valdes lives a well-off life in the Caucasian community as a Cuban. On the other hand, Ruiz identify himself as Cuban, yet, whites see him simply as black.

Read More

Summary Of Legal Alien By Pat Mora

240 Words | 1 Pages

Being “Different” Pat Mora, the writer of “Legal Alien”, evokes empathy in the audience to bring a deeper understanding of the world by using vivid imagery, juxtaposition, and code switching. Mora addresses cultural tension and identity crisis, explaining she herself, a Mexican- American, is not accepted in either Mexican communities or American communities. Mora illustrates, “Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural/ able to slip from ‘How’s life?’ to ‘Me’ stan volviendo loca’/… a handy token slipping back and forth,” (Mora 1-3/16-17).

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Medina's Memo

154 Words | 1 Pages

As Medina transitions from Cuba to a New York public school, he changes his perspective on the move. He explains how “the snow on the ground did not stay white for very long. Nothing does in New York” (Medina 72). The comparison of nothing in New York to the white snow with neither remaining white, or pure, suggests to the audience that his perspective of the United States has changed from bright to darkness. Medina describes his new school as “a typical New York school, a microcosm of the city where all races mingled and fought and, on occasion, learned” (72).

Read More

Richard Rodriguez's Brown: The Last Discovery Of America

837 Words | 4 Pages

Human tendency to categorize others extends to simple instinct. From the moment a baby is born, the first question already categorizes the baby: boy or girl. In Richard Rodriguez’s Brown: The Last Discovery of America, he addresses these ideals of categorizations, untangling arduous inner conflicts in the process. Due to his diversity, Rodriguez feels unwanted and omitted in his day-to-day life. Feeling uncategorized, Rodriguez journeys to discover new parts of himself and embrace them, as well as question societal norms.

Read More

American History Judith Ortiz Cofer Summary

290 Words | 2 Pages

In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s short story, American History, she describes the effects of prejudice towards her, being Chicano adolescent, as she is bullied and disrespected at school and refused rights because of her background. At a young age, she felt humiliated by everything she did and “hated the city” she lived in and “Public School 13” as well as her “skinny flat-chested body”(127) and much more. She was tormented and made fun of at school for being different and for being skinnier than most of the other girls. As a result of this tormenting by her peers she had almost no self esteem and a very negative outlook on life. impacted her self esteem and outlook on life.

Read More

Stereotypical Sorority Girl Essay

1148 Words | 5 Pages

I had made some friends of my own, but did not feel entirely welcomed by others. I struggled to fit in with the girls and could not figure out why I felt so alienated. I was always nice and friendly so it confused me why I was not accepted. While it was nothing entirely mean, rumors were spread that some of my sorority sisters felt I did not fit because I did not party like they did or because they simply could not see me as their sister. It hurt my self-esteem to hear that the values I cherished were not

Read More

Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Hispanic Home

797 Words | 4 Pages

19 years ago today in a Hispanic house hold two parents three siblings and the world to conquer. Screaming, laughing, learning and growing molded this one young lady to overcome all statics .Factors such as birthplace, extracurricular activities and the simple thing she couldn’t control, her origin were deciding factors for where she is present day. New York, the city that never sleeps, a city diverse in all aspects of life, the city where it all started. 18 years growing up in Harlem wasn’t all it was cracked up to be especially for a young Hispanic female. Being surrounded with drugs, violence and public disobedience were some of the easiest of distractions that I encountered every day.

Read More

How To Tame A Wild Tongue By Gloria Anzaldúa Analysis

1103 Words | 5 Pages

Anzaldúa was a Mexican American who was a well-known writer and had a major impact on the fields of queer, feminist, and cultural theory. Her most famous work is Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza which includes poems, essays, and short stories. Anzaldúa was no stranger to the use of literary theories in her writing, which is evident in her short story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Here, the author uses a combination of feminist, reader-response, and psychoanalytic theory to show the struggle of being oneself when they’re Mexican-American. Through the use of feminist theory, she explains how a female is labeled as an “habladora” when she tries to voice out her opinion about something; reader-response theory provides the reader with an understanding of the struggles of self-identity, which they are able to relate to, especially Mexican-Americans; and lastly, psychoanalytic theory illuminates on her childhood experiences, which could explain why Anzaldúa believes in what she does, such as the idea that Anglo people have tried to tame her tongue—in other words, her language.

Read More

Analysis Of Cindy Cruz's 'Toward An Epistemology Of A Brown Body'

1355 Words | 6 Pages

Critical Summary Cindy Cruz’s “Toward an epistemology of a brown body” addresses the absence of educational research regarding the “brown body” and sexual orientation of Latinx. Cruz discusses her experience as a lesbiana and not knowing there was a possibility that anyone else in her family shared her orientation. She reflects on her grandmother’s funeral and how she became aware of the “generations of queers” that surrounded her (Cruz 2001, 658). Knowledge of the brown body, Cruz claims, comes from mothers and grandmothers and from the actions of past women of color. Stories about the brown body experiences are often dismissed due to the fact that they are performed rather than explained, and the theoretical aspect of these accounts exists outside of our present reality (Cruz 2001, 659).

Read More

Avocado Lake Gary Soto Analysis

1578 Words | 7 Pages

“Oranges,” “The Seventieth Year,” and “Avocado Lake,” showcase Soto’s ability to move a reader using an emotional story without the use of rhyme or rhythm. Through Soto’s poetry, he indicates the traits that define Mexican-American community

Read More

1 2, 3 By Gary Soto Analysis

867 Words | 4 Pages

In Gary Soto’s story, “1, 2, 3,” he recounts an even dealing with prejudice that has a significant impact on the characters. The altercation occurs when a little girl falls off of a swing and her father accuses a young Mexican girl of pushing her. *[By making connections to the characters’ values in their speech and actions and repeating certain words or phrases to emphasize a point, Gary Soto explains that the way one should respond to prejudice is not by assuming the worst of people and fighting them; instead, one should try to help others, understand their point of view and values in order to prevent the negative effects of prejudice.] * *[One’s values and assumptions play a role in how that person responds to prejudice and can have an impact on how he or she views certain people. ]

Read More

The Myth Of The Latin Woman Analysis

1045 Words | 5 Pages

Cofer addresses the cultural barriers and challenges that Latinos experience through emotional appeal, anecdotal imagery, parallelism and the use of effective periodic sentences. In her article, Cofer assesses the difficult cultural hurdles of Latin Americans with emotional appeal. She provides insight on her cultural barriers by first conveying the way she had to dress and her struggle, as it shows in this piece of text, “That morning I had organized… which to base my decision” (Cofer 5). This poignancy works to stress an agonizing feeling of uncertainty and restraint towards the author.

Read More

Examples Of Fitting In Essay

1403 Words | 6 Pages

Fitting in. In other words “to fit in.” How can two simple words influence society and hold such weight over adolescents and even adults? Though my mind can’t understand the idea of what this phrase truly means, these words genuinely took a toll on me for a period of time during my semester here at Stony. If someone asked me what fitting in meant two years ago, I would have responded stating that “in order to “fit in,” you must have a lot of friends, do things you might not be comfortable with in order to please someone or a group, be skinny, wear make-up, wearing expensive clothing so that you won’t be considered a bump, etc.

Read More

Cheerleading Accomplishments

621 Words | 3 Pages

Cheerleading has taught me so many life lessons and has given me the opportunity to meet new people from all over the country and learn from their accomplishments. I learned that even after failure one must learn from his or her mistakes and to make those improvements where necessary. It was not about proving those who doubted me wrong, but to give those who had the same desire an example. It also helped me serve as that kind of ambassador for the school. This has helped me look at the world and ask myself what is missing from it that I am able to provide.

Read More

Essay About A Significant Moment In My Life

1074 Words | 5 Pages

I felt confident in my tumbling, however I had never stunted before and I couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. I am very short, so the only position available for me on the team was to be a flyer. This terrified me and as the summer went on, the majority of the upperclassmen whom I had become friends with ended up quitting. It eventually got to the point where I dreaded going to practice and didn’t want cheer to distract me from my school work. I ended up resigning from cheer right before school started and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Read More

More about Alienation In Gary Soto's Black Hair

Related Topics

Open Document