You must study and become educated” Two years ago, at her mother’s deathbed, Maria promised she would not give up her dream of getting a good education" ‘(P 1. L 36-41) In this quote we can see when she makes the promise to her mother. Her mother believes she is different and therefore has the opportunity to get an education. She does not want her daughter to end up like the others with no education. Every choice Maria makes henceforward is based on that promise she made to her mother.
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. ]* In Soto’s story, he explains how in a mostly Mexican neighborhood, where a girl lives, the families are very protective of each other.
Also, in Picture Bride, the author reveals through Mary’s actions, that even if you do everything in your power to make a person happy, they will still stab you in the back. If in life you are the type that will do anything for someone you care so much for, and then one day you discover the person has gone out of their way just to hurt you. Ever since Mary, the daughter of Hana and Taro, was a child she never developed a great relationship between her and her parents. She believed it was because her parents were born and raised in Japan, which means that they were taught differently than an American child would be taught. Japan is very traditional, so normally the woman stays home and the man provides for the family.
The way people perceive them is extremely important to a middle schooler. In Gary Soto’s “La Bamba” he uses characterization, symbols, and conflict (man v. man/man v. self/ man v. nature) to represent the theme: One does not have to constantly worry about how people perceive them self; one is great the way they are. First, the characterization in “La Bamba” supports the overarching theme. In fact, Manuel constantly worries about his appearance in aspirations of gaining acceptance from students and adults. Soto explains, “How do I look?” Manuel asked.
Maria, who lives with her abuela that influences her, is very confident in her heritage and respects it very much. At the end of the story Maria says that when she “... go(es) into Mr. Golden's class and his eyes ask… (her), who are you today Maria? … (she) will say by the way… (she) walk(s) in, head held high, that… (she is) a poem.” (Cofer 66-68) on the school-wide Who Are You Day. She feels this way because her abuela trusted her with her precious shawl that Maria's great grandmother had made.Along with everything else, Maria embraces her culture and knows that its a part of who she is. Martin, on the other hand, didn't want to connect to his culture at all in the beginning of his story.
Yerma existed in a culture which depends on parenthood, and as an outcome, rather than giving birth to a child, she is herself dejected. Yerma in Garcia Lorca 's play
Porter develops María Concepción into what could be called a powerful round character by contrasting her attitude in the first part of the story to the end of the story. Porter is able to convey the characterization of Maria by the use of the narrative point of view and the setting to show the power of a woman. María 's transformation from a young passive, laborious, and religious woman into a hateful, revenge-oriented, and dominant woman becomes obvious through her actions. Her daily routines were domestic including carrying “about a dozen living fowls,...the food basket, and she was hungry after her long morning’s work.” Putting aside her own needs to only attend the needs of her husband but the men that he works with too. María was silent and almost timid in her approaches to conflict, when she first discovered her husband’s infidelity, and even when he ran off with another woman.
The first is his character. He is always mean and unhappy. The second reason is the people believe that his home is cursed with the dead which is true. When Maria suddenly pops up in his life there is a certain shift in his life. He starts to become more protective and acknowledge that she is actually his daughter.
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.
He also somehow serves as the Antagonist in the story. Engracia is the mother of Martha and the wife of Pio. She also somewhat serves as the foil of the story. V. Summary Martha, the daughter of Pio and Engracia, was twelve years old and was extremely shy and lagged behind others of her age, either on physical or mental aspects. One night, she heard her parents arguing and struggling in terrible wrath to each other and saw that they are struggling for the knife where her father had ordered her to take the knife away from her mother’s hand and so she followed and tossed it out the window.