In Julia Alvarez’s book, How the Garcia Girl Lost Their Accents, the best literary theory to analyze the book with is Formalism, specifically looking at the recurrence of Yolonda feeling as if they don't belong, to demonstrate the greater immigrant experience during the time period. After Yolonda has lived in the United States for a while, she heads off on her own to college. She notices how her peers act differently than her, “...I cursed my immigrant origins. If only I too had been born in Connecticut or Virginia, I too would understand the jokes everyone was making in the last two digits of the year, 1969. I too would be having sex and smoking dope; I too would have suntanned parents who took me skiing in Colorado over Christmas break, and
What makes her different from the American girls is her clothes because, she wears a long skirt unlike the other girls who wear jeans. Another thing that makes her different from the others is her language, the Lin girl doesn’t know how to speak English as well as the other girls do. And the last thing that makes her different is the food she eats and how she eats it, for example she's never had a milkshake before, she slurped her soup because that was normal to do from where she was from, and she didn't know how to eat at a buffet. The theme impacts her life because it’s keeping her from doing what she really wants which is to fit in but, because she’s different it will take some time
In the Dominican Republic, General Rafael Trujillo 's dictatorship is being judged within the eyes of the four Maribal sisters. In the story "In the Time of the butterflies" by Julia Alvarez the four sisters that are all strikingly different, are contemplating on whether to follow along with the anti- Trujillo movement. Minerva being the most dominant one out of all the sisters, is first to follow through against Trujillo. Alvarez involves feminism, rhetorical and literary devises, and portrayed various themes in her novel. Along with showing the strong relationship, and the differences between the four sisters, they showed us readers the true meaning of family.
As Chicana women, we’re left to process our true Identities. Chicana women are stuck between the cultures of both Mexico and the U.S. which make the process more difficult than others. In Real Women Have Curves, we are presented with a borderline struggle where it seems that Carmen’s daughter, Ana wants more for herself and wants the chance to pursue her education and make a career in writing, however, Carmen her mother, alongside the rest of her family throw obstacles in Ana’s direction by pressuring her and using her culture against her to stay and continue sewing in Estela’s factory. Carmen blames her actions towards her daughter by mentioning that the reason for her making Ana’s life miserable is due to the love and adoration she has for her daughter. With Carmen’s actions, we are able to decipher that Carmen’s love is ‘tough love’ a philosophical term by which Chicano parents are able to manage their children, which we are able to see that in every Hispanic household, how they show love and how Carmen is doing the same with daughters.
In the 1948 Miss America Pageant Contract, one of the rules and regulations is the following “5. Contestant must be of good character and possess poise, personality, intelligence, charm, and beauty of face and figure.” (American Experience). Most of these characteristics represent the ideal woman during that era, except they
Julia Alvarez: Growing Up During a Dictatorship and Living to Tell the Tale One of the best ways both adults and children are able to express themselves is through poetry. Enjoyed by people of all ages across the globe, author Julia Alvarez, touched many hearts through her poetry and long fiction novels. A true lover of the literary arts, Alvarez used her life trials and tribulations to write a number of novels filled with astounding amounts of feeling an emotion. She even included specific events in her books that she lived during such as the reign of the dictator in the Dominican Republic.
At the beginning of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Julia was ambitious and closed off. After Olgas death, Julias life was made more tense and frustrating, causing Julia to plummet into her depression. Even before Olgas death, Julia and her family were very disconnected and her relationship with her parents was not enough. Ama, Julias mother is very hard and strict on her, she doesn’t even try to understand her and critizies her every move. Julia's relationship with her father is basically nonexistent, they aren't remotely close and never have any meaningful conversation.
Ideas of what beauty should be are a simple influence by the media. These ideals can be a simple commercial that projects the image of beauty as thin, certain skin type, and hair length. A lasting impression is made on all who view these images. Fiji was once unbiased as to weight and outward appearance of others. The women would greet each other without remarks or negative tone toward one another.
The movie “Real Women Have Curves” tells the story of Ana Garcia, a high school graduate on her way to pursuit the American dream. Ana lives in barrio in Eastern Los Angeles, she is a brilliant student whom teacher really admire. Although she wants to go to college, her family, especially her mother, Carmen, tells her not to. In her mother’s eyes, Ana is a spoiled child who only thinks of herself. As the movie rolls along, the conflict between Ana and Carmen grows larger and Carmen turns into Ana’s biggest obstacle in achieving her American dream.
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.
The setting, of the story "Three Girls" takes place in Broadway and Twelfth in New York. It was a cold evening around 6pm, in March. The second part of the story is set in a bookstore called Stand Use books, at Fourteenth Street in New York, because these two girls are a book lover and called themselves a poet. In addition, protagonist mentions, "a woman nearly my height, was tall for a girl, in 1956" (96). This shows that the story happened in 1956 and it was their first time to see Marilyn Monroe real in person.
In Gerald Early’s essay “Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America pageant,” Early talks about his experience of watching Miss America pageants with his family. The issue explored in his essay is the way black culture in society is affected by America’s standard of beauty and the difficulties black women experiences when trying to find one’s identity because of this. Early believes that America’s standard of beauty is white, the look that is most praised in the beauty pageants. He uses rhetorical strategies such as allusion, ethical persuasion, and emotional persuasion to emphasize that America's standard of beauty has an effect on black women.
Gabi, a girl in Pieces is a novel written by Isabel Quintero is consists of Gabi Hernandez journal entries as she goes through her senior year of high school. Gabi lives with her mother, brother, Beto, and her father that comes in and out as he deals with his drug addiction. Gabi is supported by her two best friends, Cindy who is going through an unwanted pregnancy, and Sebastian that is unwanted by his family. Her dad sadly died from a drug overdose, and her mother is pregnant with his child. Throughout the book Gabi goes through body issues (binge eats to get rid of her anxiety, and relationship issues, but all/most of her problems are solved by the end of the book.
What is the most pressing issue facing society today? In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison argues that it is beauty standards, even calling physical beauty “the most destructive idea[] in the history of human thought” (122). While this may seem outrageous in a world of terrorism, global warming, homelessness, and hunger, beauty standards and the feelings of inferiority that stem from them affect everybody. In severe cases, these feelings can even manifest themselves deeply inside of a person and lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, self-hatred, and even suicide. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison uses the insecurities of the female characters to demonstrate that beauty standards are a danger to society, as they perpetuate racism and self-hatred.
Beauty Pageants deprive children of their confidence and childhoods because they lower girls self esteem. In today 's society, many magazines, movies, and runways pressure women to look a certain way, and to act a certain way. Young girls, even girls as young as one years old, can be affected by today’s obsession with fitness and perfection. These girls can take drastic measures to change what they look like, even going as far as starving themselves (Freymark 29). Beauty pageants are notorious for highlighting outward looks,and to many girls who believe that they are not beautiful enough, being judged on one 's appearance can cause a devastating blow to a girl’s confidence.
