Always Living In Spanish By Marjorie Agosin Analysis

Language plays an important role in one’s culture. Not only is it used for every day communication, it is also used to pass down stories in some cultures. In The Latehomecomer, the language difference between the Hmong and Americans causes problems for the Yang family. However, the Hmong language is very important to their people. They use it to pass down stories, which is an important part of their culture. For the Hmong in The Latehomecomer, language has both positive and negative effects on the Hmong people.

For as long as people can remember, the stereotype that men have “more power” than women in a relationship has been a relevant argument. In the novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents the Author, Julia Alvarez, writes about four girls and part of that revolves around their relationships with men. In all of their relationships with men, he has the power in the relationship which means he makes the decisions for them. When they lived in the United States the girls and their mother had more say in the society. When they lived in the Dominican Republic men just saw them as submissive housewives who bear their children. Women who are also known to have slept with other men are dishonored. Also as the girls get older the author shows them independent and successful, even with a man. Which shows that the Garcia girls aren’t just some ordinary family.

In the poem “A Story” by Li- Young Lee, the audience is introduced to the intricate relationship between the father and the son. There is an obvious internal conflict ongoing within the father’s thoughts; the father desperately wants to tell his son a story but cannot come up with one. The author highlights the altering views held by the father and the son through the use of shifting points of view and the intended structure. These two devices adeptly establish the poem’s profundity and intensity of emotions; moreover, it brings light to a common battle that evolving filial relations face against time; as innocence eventuates into maturity, parents inevitably feel helpless and nostalgic.

Gloria Anzaldúa, in the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” (1987), claims her experiences as a Chicano taught her that her culture was not looked at highly in comparison to the English language. Anzaldúa argues her view about her Chicano language by giving examples of both cultures Chicano Mexican and American cultures. Anzaldúa’s purpose is to inform her audience on how it is to grow up in a Chicano speaking family. Anzaldúa writes in a frustrating tone throughout the story of her life experiences. Thesis: Anzaldúa use of her personal experiences, and Music, Film and Literature are relevant sufficient and

For example this quote “Mexican Americans or Afro- Americans were considered dangerous radicals while law- abiding citizens to drop their cultural baggage at the border.” explains that when natives they drop all their ethics and traits to fit in. Image is everything early on, but not fitting into the community again is hard. The author also writes to persuade readers that that she is a true Latina, because she tries to take spanish lessons. Mexican Americans are also seen as people with little education and poor. “To me speaking spanish translated into being poor.” Barrientos also feel that she is judged by society and other Latinas for not speaking her cultural language. In this quote she explains the reaction of people when they figure that she doesn’t speak spanish.”I hear the silent snag, the momentary hesitation I have come to expect at this part of the exchange.”

Language is a part one’s identity and culture, which allows one to communicate with those of the same group, although when spoken to someone of another group, it can cause a language barrier or miscommunication in many different ways. In Gloria Anzaldua’s article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, which was taken from her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, she is trying to inform her readers that her language is what defines her. She began to mention how she was being criticized by both English and Spanish Speakers, although they both make up who she is as a person. Then, she gave convincing personal experiences about how it was to be a Chicana and their different types of languages. Moreover, despite the fact that her language was considered illegitimate, Anzaldua made it clear that she cannot get rid of it until the day she dies, or as she states (on page 26) “Wild tongues can’t be, they can only be cut out.” At the same time her attitude towards the English speakers is distasteful.

Author Jane Pace argues that how a person sees themselves is alterable depending on their language. She specifically states that, ‘language that does exclude does, in fact, have a detrimental effect on a person’s self-perception and sense of self-worth.’ (Pace 37)

America has always been known as a land of opportunity and promise for a better life from wherever and whatever you have been through. Hard work and good work ethics could get you anywhere in this country. These preconceived ideas made America a popular place for immigrants seeking religious freedom, better work, or a better life. Therefore, we call our country a melting pot of different origins, races, ethnic background, and cultural diversity. Richard Rodriguez is an American writing who has written many things that spark questions that affect things we have never wondered. In The Chinese in All of Us, a short passage explain Rodriguez’s cultural views and his idea of multiculturalism. Rodriguez also questions whether we are changing immigrants or they’re changing us, as Americans. Rodriguez explores and captures the ideas of cultural independence and acceptance of other beliefs through the three modes of persuasion, personal experiences, and countless examples of

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is the short story about the importance of language and how it is a key for communication. Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California and she was a first generation of Asian-American. The author is very fascinated by the language and she believes that the language has the power of emotions, a visual image, a complex idea, and a simple truth. She also believes that there are many different types of “Englishes”.

In “Se Habla Espanol,” Tanya Barrientos elaborates on her personal experience growing up in the United States. In the first couple decades of her life, Barrientos distanced herself from her cultural roots fearing that she would be judge and belittle. It was essential for Barrientos to fit in with the American society.

Our identity is a place upon many attributes of a human being. Whether the person is someone who goes on promoting themselves to the world or not, and it shows how people communicate to others around them. Language is one of the main components that unveils the person’s identity in their everyday life, and they are many different ways to approach a person’s language. Relating to the article of Yiyun Li, “To Speak is to Blunder,” she knows two languages that has its positive and negative outcomes in her life. I to relate to her understanding of language, but a different view of what language means to me. This how a language connects towards those who can relate to other people and may or may not have a deeper relationship

Culture differences, the differences of culture that has been created due to immigration, can create many tensions between generations in a household. The short story “The Jade Peony” manifests culture shock through two incidents. The first incident is depicted when Jung, Kiam, Liang were talking to their dad and telling him how grandma’s unacceptable disgusting behavior was causing them to get insulted by their friends. “The problem for the rest of the family was in the fact that Grandma looked for these treasures wandering the back alleys” “All our friends are laughing at us!”. Their father replied to this by telling to stop this but in the back of his head he thought “how could he dare tell the Grand Old One, his aging mother, that what

Every literary work has its own purpose of existence and no literary is the same. There is always literary work for someone to be interested in. the authors use different techniques in order to attract the readers, such as rhythm, rhyme, characters, settings, characters, theme, and conflict and other techniques. One of the elements that literature allow the readers to use is the imagination in order to visualize what the author message is in his story or poem. Some stories, poems or drama are based from the writer’s personal experience, such as the conflict with they have with society because of their race, gender or ethnicity. The poem “To live in the Borderlands Means you” by Gloria Anzaldua, describes from the author’s personal experience how society can affect an individual’s identity. The mixture of different cultures and races can isolate a person because it affects his or her identity in culture, society and how politics affects them.

Seeing as language is a way of one expressing itself we can connect language to identity. As in order for one to demonstrate itself we have to be able to express our feelings and emotions and we do so through communication. Some characteristics of language is that it's dynamic, meaning that it changes constantly for example, the English people speak now is not the same English that people used to speak hundreds of years before. Language changes and modernizes itself in order to evolve and has many variations through dialects. Different language communities have certain ways of talking that will set them apart from others and those differences are known as dialects. Dialects are not just accents but also grammar, vocabulary, syntax and common expressions used.One is able to identify and distinguish between different people, different ethnicities and races as people speak different languages. Each human belongs to a community which makes them speak a specific language and dialect that represent their community and differentiates them from others. Language connects people to their community as they are connected to people that speak the same

It has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensible. Language is a social phenomenon. It denotes that the expressive mode of a man reveals his socialistic process and thus the expression is a