Judith Ortiz Cofer's Silent Dancing
Stories and memories passed on through generations can help to shape an individual. In many instances, storytelling can tell a lesson or push a person’s opinion about something in a certain direction. Memories can sometimes be unreliable, but can also be all that someone can base their life off of. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s memoir Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican childhood uses storytelling to share her memories in a life lesson manner. She takes the reader on a journey through her memories and childhood and uses her memory as a main tool. Memory and storytelling is an important aspect of Silent Dancing, because they helped to shape the author, told lessons to the reader, and explained a life tied between Puerto Rican and American. …show more content…
Whether it comes from a memory that Cofer shares or a story that Mama tells, there is a hidden meaning for each story. At the beginning there is the story of Maria la loca, a women who was left at the alter by a man who lied and deceived her. The story was told by Mama while Cofer was a small child listening to the grownups talk. The story is told because Cofers’ Aunt Laura is going to get her wedding dress hemmed, but she does not even know if or when the wedding will take place. Mama describes the story in a way that catches each of the characters attention. Cofer writes “Mama put each of us in Maria’s place by describing her wedding dress in loving detail: how she looked like a princess in her lace as she waited at the alter” (Cofer 20). This puts each of the characters and even the reader in the place of Maria, as she stands at the alter and gets her heart broken. The story tells the reader that they do not want to be in Marias shoes, so they must be careful and cautious with men and who they choose to be their husbands. The story of Maria la loca is an example of letting love control who you want to become. Love is the reason Maria becomes an
Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front
488 Words | 2 PagesDeeply challenging involved governments all around the world, the impact of war is an issue of ensuring that there is enough food for every person on the planet: especially during times of hardship. There are boundless reasons justifying that scarcity is not to blame for food shortage, but humans and policies are. As exemplified in Remarque’s, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his friends are constantly in search for food, even with the policy of Army rationing, which was indicative of Germany’s losing war effort. Because of World War I’s high demands, food shortage grew to be an extreme problem all over.
Hunger Of Memory Richard Rodriguez
532 Words | 3 PagesHunger of Memory is a memoir of the educational experience of Richard Rodriguez and his journey as a first generation Mexican- American citizen. The book is compiled of a prologue, in which he states his reasons for writing, and six chapters with no specific chronological order. Richard Rodriguez grew up in a white, middle-class neighborhood and attended a Catholic school. He describes his early childhood as a war between his “public” and “private life”: a war between school and home. He struggled when he first started school, because English was his second language and he felt insecure about his shaky ability to communicate through it.
The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
1874 Words | 8 PagesO'brien feels that as opposed to people whose lives are temporary, stories live on. It is appropriate to store memories of people in stories because the stories are the vehicle to bring memories the of people past their death, into the future. Ultimately, stories are powerful because they can hold love and memories of people
Personal Narrative: Growing Up In The Dominican Republic
430 Words | 2 PagesI was in an unfamiliar country and yet I’d never felt more at home. For that single week I spent in my country, I met cousins I didn’t know I had, I learned how to cook, and I learned to value the fact that the city always has electricity. I was also able to see where my parents had inherited the strength and resilience they so carefully taught me to have. They exhibited these qualities as I was growing up, when they struggled to pay bills and learn the American way of life. We didn’t know where our next meal was coming from, but, similar to my grandparents, their laughter never ceased and the sounds of merengue never died down.
Maria Concepcion Short Story
1028 Words | 5 PagesOnce Juan returns with Maria Rosa, Concepcion has yet another hurdle to overcome known as Maria Rosa. Throughout the short story, Maria Concepcion has an internal struggle due to her husband’s affair, which ends with Maria committing an immoral act and justifying it with the preservation of her family. Maria, because of the fact she in deeply religious, has a strong wish for unity in her family. She wants to
Thomas King You Ll Never Believe What Happened Essay
942 Words | 4 PagesThe sad thing about stories is that “once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world” (King10), that plane with no survivors cannot be taken back, the article in the news about the bus that flipped is read by thousands of people and cannot be taken back. The author of the “Truth About Stories” never says whether he thinks that not being able to take back stories is a good or bad thing, but rather he states that “you have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories you are told” (King,10) because they will shape who you
Analysis Of Julia Alvarez: A Genetic Of Justice
543 Words | 3 PagesAlvarez and her family have a lot of trauma considering there lives in the dominican republic and living under the dictator,through it all alvarez's parents raised a daughter who would share their story in a fashionable matter that told the story how it was.
Geeta Kothari If You Eat Analysis
793 Words | 4 PagesFor example, the opening first story explains her desire to eat American food instead of Indian food. She describes how the children at school have tuna salad sandwiches her mother doesn’t know how to make it nor does she really care for the food. Describing her desire for American food foreshadows to the relationship between her parents and even her culture. Constantly wanting American food while she grows up creates a disconnection in her relationship with her
Avocado Lake Gary Soto Analysis
1578 Words | 7 PagesThe speaker discloses that his children have been “gathered like a small cloud [and have become] . . . steam weeping on the window” (ll. 32-35). The speaker uses this final comparison of his children to weeping clouds to convince his grandpa that his life is not irredeemable and his presence is still needed in this world. In conclusion, through Gary Soto’s usage of powerful imagery, precise descriptions, and an absence of rhythm, he evokes a sense of sympathy for the community where he grew up while telling a beautiful story.
Childhood In Mary Karr's The Liars Club
1893 Words | 8 Pages(Karr, 196) Throughout the text the author quotes her father, and interacts with him through conversation. With her mother she notices specifics in her appearance more than anything; she spends time describing how her mother looks in a passage instead of the conversations she had with her. An example of this is when she is leaving her mother in Colorado, and returning to Texas to live with her father. She says she can’t remember anything during that period of time, “Any talk with Mother after Lecia’s call was siphoned from my head.” Shortly after the instance of lying to the narrator, her mother left on a trip to Mexico, to which she returned with another man who wasn't her father.
Main Characters In Gary Soto's 'Growing Up'
786 Words | 4 PagesIn the text it also says, “Maybe he would do something crazy, like crash the car on purpose, to get back at her, or fall asleep and run the car into an irrigation ditch. And it would be her fault.” This connects to theme because, Maria needs to be thankful for her family and, she is not acting very thankful according to this quote. This conflict is another main part of the theme. As one can see, Maria is not very grateful towards her
An Hour With Abuelo Analysis
689 Words | 3 PagesJudith Ortiz Cofer shows her theme that we never really know a person until we know their story through Arturo’s realization that his grandfather has a story to tell and grabs Arturo's attention and realizes how much he actually enjoys the company of his
Essay About Moving To America
727 Words | 3 PagesMy writing of these incidents in this location, time, language, and manner, are solely credited to my family’s life-changing decision to travel to the unfamiliar land of America. This unforgettable experience signifies the detachment from my closest and most loved family, which I yearn to be with to this day. However, I can only remind myself that, perhaps, I am a better individual as a result of my journey across the globe, and that everything which occurs in life occurs for a
When I Was Puerto Rican Analysis
866 Words | 4 PagesEsmeralda Santiago is able to intertwine her childhood memories and her experiences together with her family in order to communicate her life as Puerto Rican. Santiago depicts the importance of culture and customs in her memoir. Esmeralda was
Personal Narrative: My Family History Project
500 Words | 2 PagesThrough the examples of my mother’s traumatic event or my own scare (it was scarier than it sounds), we can see this common theme. My mother and I are not the only ones in our family who are strong and brave, all of my other family members are as well, there just was not enough time to write of all their wonderful stories. From these stories we can learn of people’s pasts, how they acted, and why they are who they are today. Overall, this family history project has allowed me to search through my family’s history and find out about my
More about Judith Ortiz Cofer's Silent Dancing
Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front
488 Words | 2 PagesHunger Of Memory Richard Rodriguez
532 Words | 3 PagesThe Things They Carried By Tim O Brien
1874 Words | 8 PagesPersonal Narrative: Growing Up In The Dominican Republic
430 Words | 2 PagesMaria Concepcion Short Story
1028 Words | 5 PagesThomas King You Ll Never Believe What Happened Essay
942 Words | 4 PagesAnalysis Of Julia Alvarez: A Genetic Of Justice
543 Words | 3 PagesGeeta Kothari If You Eat Analysis
793 Words | 4 PagesAvocado Lake Gary Soto Analysis
1578 Words | 7 PagesChildhood In Mary Karr's The Liars Club
1893 Words | 8 PagesMain Characters In Gary Soto's 'Growing Up'
786 Words | 4 PagesAn Hour With Abuelo Analysis
689 Words | 3 PagesEssay About Moving To America
727 Words | 3 PagesWhen I Was Puerto Rican Analysis
866 Words | 4 PagesPersonal Narrative: My Family History Project
500 Words | 2 Pages