A Literary Analysis on “Mother Tongue” By Demetria Martinez Essay

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is the story about four sisters from the Dominican Republic and how they became American as well as how they tried to stay Dominican. Through their fights with their father, full of machismo, and their relationships with American men and with each other, the four sisters reveal four different experiences in Americanization and the ways that the clung to their native culture, even decades after they first arrived in the United States. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is not a story that it told in chronological order, as it opens with Yolanda returning to the Dominican Republic for the first time in five years, despite ending with Yolanda while she was little and still living in the Dominican

Juan Gonzalez uses Chapter 12: “Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracán over Language and Culture” of his novel Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America to introduce a truly polarizing argument that has plagued the Latino community in the United States of America. Gonzalez is quick to point out that English is the common language in this country, though he is quicker to note that it should not necessarily be so. This author is so incredibly biased in this chapter that it is nearly impossible to disagree with his opinion without feeling like one is completely shutting out the entire Latino community. However, speaking as a member of this community, perhaps it is this unique insight that allows for not only a contending opinion, but also the framework to make the opinion relevant. Gonzalez makes brash claims with little supporting evidence and relies heavily on argumenta ad passiones to manipulate the reader’s emotions instead of focusing on rationalism and sound judgment. Quite possibly, it was the abundance of this logical fallacy that made it difficult to sympathize with his argument; though, it lays the basis for this chapter analysis.

In this article, “The Myth of the Latin Woman” Cofer has talked about many incidents from her life where she was talked about, from a young girl the adult life. Ortiz Cofer is so ardent about this topic of stereotyping Latin women because she was a native women of the Puerto Rico area who really grew up in the United States. There is how she witnessed firsthand how hurtful stereotyping could be. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, She has repeated use of Spanish words in the essay to shows her audience how proud she is of the Latin heritage. she continuously uses other words, such as Puerto Rican, and Latina to stress the names she heard growing up. Because she has been brought up to love her Latin culture, she was often stereotyped here in the United States. As you can see, this is why she became so involved with trying to bring people so much awareness to the

Sandra Cisneros is an influential, activist poet who is engaged in teaching the Chicano community and is a strong voice for the Latino community through her writing. Cisneros has a Mexican father and a Chicana mother which made her part of the two different communities. Cisneros’s work is often influenced by her observations of the people in her community and her writings include many different types of communities. In “His Story” and “Woman Hollering Creek” communities of women influence Sandra Cisneros’ characters. Some of the communities help and others hinder. Overall, the communities impact each narrator's sense of identity.

Julia Alvarez displays a beautifully written piece of literature in “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, describing a family's experience during the revolution in the Dominican Republic and how these drastic changes to their lives impacted them individually. In this piece of literature Julia actively portrays Dominican teenagers adjusting to American life and desperately trying to discover themselves as they’re struggling to comply with their parents strict rules and Americans heinous ridicule and judgement. Alvarez is often congratulated for accurately portraying the cultural shift majority of foreigners are impacted by, and especially those who’ve shared similar experiences with the Garcia family such as being pushed away from their homes and sense of security, family, and everything they’ve known since they were kids solely by the cruel revolution going on there during that time. In the beginning of the book, Alvarez begins with Yolanda finally returning back home to the Dominican Republic for

In the story, “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, Judith Ortiz, an English professor at University of Georgia, tells us her story of growing up in in New Jersey and juggling Puerto Rican and American cultures. She tells her childhood story, how she was raised in comparison to how her school friends were brought up. She speaks about the Puerto Rican culture and how that the conflicting messages she received affected her life throughout her childhood and teen years. She also shows examples of how people tend to look at Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics: the women are “hot tamales” and ripe for sexual conquests or people look down their noses and only see them as maids and waitresses. Oritz is taking her education and making it her job to demolish

Culture shock: what white America feels after reading this book. Juan Gonzalez’s Harvest of Empire encases what most Latinos want to say, but always gets muted for. The empowerment behind the title is such an intricacy yet soft to the touch. This book will make any reader reconsider about everything they’ve learned from any culture. This book covers most atrocities committed to Latin America by Spain and the US. The factor of white hegemony, hunger for power and possessions, discrimination, conquest, and the terrorization by Americans in Latin America makes this book difficult to read as a Latina. The limelight of this book is in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico because how relatively close these three countries are in relation to the US. Gonzalez’s main argument of this book is to demonstrate to America how Latino presence is becoming a commonality and it will be normalized. Furthermore, it talks about the second wave of immigration and how pivotal it has become. Finally, he discusses

Since than Chicanas have been accused for being traders and have been oppress by society. The author analyzed the roles Chicanas play in Mexican families and how they follow patriarchy views. For example, the mother in the story is describes as unworthy, week and insignificant within the family. However, Mama Luna as well as the young Chicana are being projected otherwise independent, smart, strong, and confident. Viramontes in her story she represents them as warrior Chicanas fighting against the conquistadores that killed many and took away our history.

El Salvador is a war-torn country. Over the decades, this country has had to deal with political and economical disequilibrium. By the 1970’s, a savage and vicious civil war started. The government started to target citizens they believed were supportive of economical and political reform. One of the most preeminent examples was Archbishop Oscar Romero who was shot to death in 1980. A war erupted between the government and the rebels who were against the government’s ideas and ways of ruling. The U.S. continually provided the government with financial and military support, and they are believed to be the only reason why the government stayed in the war. The war ended around the early 2000’s, but it left El Salvador in a broken state. Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled between 1980 to 2000, and have resided in the United States ever since.

In the Anglo-American culture, “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, Latinas are sex symbols and maids “Hispanic woman as the “hot tamale” or sexual fire brand” either sex symbols or low-income workers in mainstream Anglo-American culture. (Judith Ortiz Cofer, 12). In the American culture, Latinas are looked down upon and bad girls with their tropical traditional dressing. The Judith’s observation is classified others, who are mostly wrong, lack of knowledge, and make irrational

The US: a self-proclaimed melting pot, or cultural quilt of the world. Yet, the general population know very little about the different cultures, or the stories of the immigrants who bring these cultures. An in a micro-ethnographic study, Maria, an immigrant from Colombia, shared her experiences with the cultures of Colombia and the US, and some stories about her life. Please note that the informant’s name has been changed to protect her privacy and wellbeing.

In her novel, Birds of Paradise: How I Became Latina, Raquel Cepeda writes, “being Latino means being from everywhere, and that is exactly what America is supposed to be about.” America is well regarded as a “mixing pot”, taking various races and cultures and stirring them together. In this quote, Cepeda is embracing her roots and understanding how different cultures come together to create an even larger, more encompassing culture. Juan Gonzalez echoes this sentiment in his book Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by stressing the importance of the Latino culture in America and tracing its evolution from immigration to becoming a vital part of the overall American culture, or rather, “melting pot.” In this monograph, Gonzalez examines the main subsets of the Latino community in order to give a full understanding of the wide-ranging influences on American life and society. This paper will explore Gonzalez’ arguments on the immigration experience of the Mexicans and Cubans and will briefly and concisely relate their impacts on the American culture.

Reinaldo Arenas’ love for Cuba is metaphorically illustrated throughout the story. He allows the readers to imagine that his “mother” has died, when in reality, the narrator’s mother is a symbolic representation of his once beloved country. For instance, he demonstrates his love for his "mother" when he melancholically recalls how his mother gathered him and his siblings together at Christmas time or other traditional activities (Arenas 315). That is to enunciate, when he remembers all the past experiences

Maria’s fierce and determined character is juxtaposed with the men’s fragility. With her father-in-law being an invalid, her ex-husband’s wishes to leave the plantation, and her son’s laziness and indifference, Maria takes on the responsibility of the coffee plantation and tries to apply this to every aspect of her life. However, the most prominent of the male figures in Maria’s life is Manuel, a child born in Africa of French parents. Contrary to his mother’s sense of belonging in the French-African colony, Manuel seems to be more aware that their presence is unwelcome and makes no apparent effort to make that presence known. Although he is a native, the country “doesn’t like him” as mentioned in one of the film’s sequences during a conversation between the African mayor and Maria.

Cristina García is a proclaimed Cuban-American journalist, novelist, and poet. García has worked for Time magazine, edited anthologies such as Cubanisimo!: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature, and published her poetry in The Lesser Tragedy of Death. García is also the recipient of the National Book Award for her debut novel Dreaming in Cuba. Her fictitious works not only serve as entertainment for readers, but also provide insight to the lives of Cuban families affected by the Cuban Revolution. In addition, her dramatic stories with hints of dark humor serve as a voice for Latina women in a male-dominated environment. Being a feminist, García provides both empowerment and a glimpse into the issues Latina women deal with in her stories and poetry.