“Por primera vez en mi vida, comence a guachar como se portaban los batos, como eran las rucas, como pensaba la mayoria de la raza aca en los barrios.” “For the first time in my life, I began to see how the guys behaved, how the women were, how the majority of the people in the barrios thought.” When he put sources, he would put them exactly how the person stated it in Spanish; then he would rewrite an English version in case the reader couldn’t understand the Spanish version. Otherwise it would have been a very hard book to read and comprehend. Being able to speak the Spanish language gives him the identity and credibility of a Chicano.
Mexican Whiteboy How does the author use language in the story to express their culture? Mexican Whiteboy, a 2008 novel by Matt de la Peña, is set in National City, California, and is based on the life of Danny Gonzalez. Danny is a sixteen-year-old boy who moved in with his cousin, Sofia, for the summer while his mother and sister are in San Francisco because he had a secret plan to save up money and fly to Mexico to reconnect with his father. Danny is faced with ethnic identity concerns as he spends time in National City, he doesn’t feel he’s Mexican enough to fit in with the other kids. Danny is also a baseball prodigy.
Within each book, it questions the message of “culture and gender” (Louelí, “An Interpretive Assessment of Chicano Literature and Criticism”). Clearly, positive figures influenced how the Chicano community acted then and now. Rudolfo Anaya and other Chicano writers
Throughout “The Mexican in Fact, Fiction, and Folkore” examines the term “Mexican” as it is applied in Southwest literature and argues the Anglo society has made a conscious effort to misrepresent Mexicans (Rios 60). He states the people of Mexican descent are viewed as un-American because they are perceived as filthy, lazy, and dumb. Ricatelli adds to the conversation of Mexican stereotypes by examining the literary expressions of Chicanas and Mexicanas in the literature of both the United States and Mexico. In “The Sexual Stereotypes of The Chicana in Literature” Ricatelli explains how in Yankee literature, the Chicana is referred to as the “fat breeder, who is a baby factory” meanwhile the Mexican is described as an “amoral, lusty hot tamale” (Ricatelli 51). He makes note of these stereotypes in order to highlight the ethnocentric and nativist points of view that dominated Anglo literature.
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
Moreover, she reveals that stereotypes mark people as undesirable and separate them from the rest of society, thus impeding their assimilation. Cofer uses another simile when she details her experience with an American boy at her first formal dance: “ … [He] said in a resentful tone: ‘I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early’—my first instance of being thought of as a fruit or vegetable—I was supposed to ripen, not just grow into womanhood like other girls” (549). In this simile, Cofer shows how those who stereotype Latino women compare them to fruits and vegetables because both are supposed to mature rapidly. However, she denounces this comparison by emphasizing that it dehumanizes Latino women and reduces them to the status of mere plants while creating a
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.
Christopher Castaneda 3/2/2023 2nd period Multicultural Literature Dan-el Padilla was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He came to the U.S when he was only 4 years old legally but unfortunately his visa expired while in the U.S which meant he had become undocumented. Padilla shows us throughout his memoir Undocumented how being undocumented challenges your life. Padilla argues what is succes and how you can attain it and how your social status does not define who you are. My own view on Padilla’s interrelated themes is that success can be whatever you’d like it to be because people have different successes and goals in life.
Many stories embody the cultural aspects of Mexican-Americans and their struggles with living in a discriminatory society. Stories like With
Selena Quintanilla’s father once said, “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans.” In today’s society, many have encountered the challenge of not being able to be who they really are because they fear not being accepted by others, more specifically their culture. But, what happens when an individual is part of two worlds that have just as many rules? Gloria E. Anzaldúa was a Mexican-American writer and poet who made a major contribution to the fields of cultural, feminist, and queer theory. Anzaldúa identifies as a Chicana and speaks different variations of Spanish, some of which she exhibits in her works.
Immigration during the 20th century led to to differences and cultural changes in the country spreading diversity. Immigrants have came to this country escaping the government from their country, looking for comfort,or chances and hope for their family. The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, demonstrates the struggle of how immigrants wanted comfort the feeling of being accepted even as they speak a different language. The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica captures the struggle of immigrants as they were embedded into a new life a new culture. Take The Tortillas out of your poetry written by Rudolfo Anaya demonstrated how the poets that tried to add their culture into their poetry were rejected for having a different language.
“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
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.
“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María” by Judith Ortiz Cofer and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan depict the endeavors people take on in an attempt to integrate into society. Cofer demonstrates how stereotypes of Latina women have led others to misjudge her and explains the difficulty she had disassociating herself from those stereotypes. Tan demonstrates that the “broken” English her mother speaks has led others to think less of her and disregard her. One’s appearance instantaneously causes others to judge them. For some it is easier to blend in and be accepted by their community, but what is it that keeps some people from assimilating, and what effect does their otherness have on them?
Both readings claim that Hispanics are here to stay, but with opposing views on how this affects society. One place where Hispanic presence is on the rise is in schools. However, some Hispanic students know more Spanish than English, and therefore struggle in school. This idea of exemplifies the stereotype that Hispanics are “dumb”.
