Background And Culture: The Virgin Of Guadalupe

Preview of Main Points: First, I will discuss the story of La Virgen de Guadalupe and the importance in the Mexican culture. Then, I will discuss how I identify myself with this culture and one experience in which I explain why la Virgen de Guadalupe is important to me.

The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez by John Rechy delves into the life of Amalia Gomez; a Mexican-American woman living in a poor rural area of Hollywood. The structure of her family is falling apart due to conflict between the characters and Amalia’s lack of involvement in their lives. Her youngest son Juan is a male prostitute known as a “maricÓn”, her daughter Gloria is falling dangerously close to following in Amalia’s footsteps, and her oldest son Manny although well intentioned starts to clone his father’s criminal tendencies even though he has no recollections of his father. Amalia’s selective perspective also leads to conflict within herself since she is content not knowing the truth as long as the false reality fits her ideal

Who is Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez and what is she responsible of? Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez was a Mexican patriot who was also a heroine for Mexico’s War of Independence. Doña Josefa made history when she had the courage and bravery to risk he life by alerting rebels and rebel leaders about the discovery the King’s men made about the conspiracy of an uprising against the King to claim independence. She was responsible for some of Mexico’s success in the war

Don’t Eat the Bear: A Spanish adventurer named Gaspar De Portola in 1769 passed through a region what is now Santa Barbara. In the near by sand dunes he found a lake where he crossed passed with an “oso flaco”, a skinny bear. They were dying of hunger and ate the skinny bear not knowing it was poisoned.

Initially, Antonio 's family in itself experiences major discrepancies with beliefs in different religions. Antonio 's mother, Maria Maréz, (formally a Luna), has a strong monotheistic belief in praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe and is very active in her catholic faith. Antonio 's mother would always make them pray and often times,“after supper [they] always prayed the rosary… [she] had a beautiful statue of la Virgen de Guadalupe” that they would kneel in front of and sometimes pray to for hours on end (Anaya 43). Maria had a strong belief that

Inequalities within minorities is not limited to economic unfairness but also social inequity. The second story that shows how inequality within minorities is “The Myth of the Latin Woman” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” is an essay based on the real life experiences of Judith Ortiz Cofer. The story talks about the racist inequalities she has went through as a women of Hispanic descent. “a young man, obviously fresh from a pub, spotted me and as if struck by inspiration went down on his knees in the aisle. With both hands over his hearts he broke into an an Irish tenor’s rendition of Maria from West Side Story”. The author retells one of her experiences from earing graduate credits one summer and she is met by someone whom ignorantly makes racists remark simply because she is Latina. Furthermore in the story Cofer mentions how people gave the man a round of applause. “amused fellow passengers gave his voice the round of gentle applause” (Page 61). This shows that it is acceptable to generalize an ethnic group into a character from West Side Story. In addition to the unfair generalization, Cofer is confronted unfair expectations. I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early”. This is unfair assumption made to Cofer. She is treated like a vegetable rather than a girl who traditionally grows into womanhood. This also generalizes Latin women to be matured at a young age. Which is incorrect just because Latinas fall into a small category in society

Born in Montreal on October 18, 1919, Pierre Trudeau was the 15th prime minister of Canada for nearly 16 years. His charismatic personality matched the revolutionary ideas of the 1960s. In additional to several advances he made for the Liberal Party, he gained a reputation for dating high-profile women. His 1982 partition of the Canadian constitution greatly advanced Canadians’ civil rights.

II. Summary of points: I hope that I have opened your eyes to the celebration of Dia de los Muertos by informing you about the history and why it is sometimes referred to as “a tradition that refuses to die”, how it is celebrated around the world, and the symbolism involved in the celebration.

World War I was a long, hard war that resulted in a catastrophic death toll with no real change in the world as to what it was before the war, because of this many people refer to it as an “unnecessary war”. Without World War I most people, believe that the world would have been generally the same as to what it had always been and so the loss of millions of lives had essentially been for nothing. World War I or the Great War, as it used to be referred to as, seemed to have been caused because of imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. Some of the major countries were fighting to be the best, they wanted the most advanced and proficient army and they wanted to expand their country and take over more territories and because of this major tensions

A cultural analysis is a combination of many elements. Cultures have traditions, customs, habits, beliefs, practices, and values. Each culture can have different traditions in their own essence. These traditions can come from their ancestors ' and passed down the generations. However, some people don’t like to continue their ancestors traditions and adapt others customs from another culture. The culture change depending on the time and place. The enrichment of cultures consists of adaptation and acceptance of another culture 's beliefs. Not all of the people can tolerate other cultures, traditions, languages or stereotypes. Cultures attack or support other cultural values The Mexican culture is hard-working and are strict in their values and traditions. The power and oppression of the cultures are current; social and economic conditions in the people in cultures. The Mexican culture has social and economic conditions oppressed by the power of its Government. In the play “Los Vendidos” Luis Valdez, talks about the multiple accent and background of Mexican people.

Mexican culture dates far back as the 13th century. This is when the Aztecs were prevalent in northern mexico. Aztecs were a people who were all about war and honor. They made many enemies going to war with smaller tribes and brutally killed their enemies. In the 16th century the Aztecs Empire crumbled due to the invasion led by Hernan Cortez. Disease, superior weapons, and aid of the Aztec’s enemies were all contributing factors to the Aztecs downfall. Fast forward September 16th 1810 when Mexico gained its independence from Spain Mexico's identity started to develop. Mexican culture is defined by many things, its food, its language, its clothing, its art. However, There is one aspect that defines Mexican culture and that is family life. Mexicans have a very rich family life that defines the culture. The way that family is organized and the way each member acts can be traced back to the very beginning. It's a mixture of the indigenous peoples culture as well as the Spaniards culture. The indigenous peoples pass on their ideas of honor and machismo and the Spaniards pass on their ideas of catholicism, and family value and structure. I fit into this because I grew up on these ideas and my family still practices some of these ideas today.

One depiction of Mexican holidays shaping the city of Los Angeles into a Latino city can be seen in the Mexican holiday El Dia del Los Muertos. For instance, Mexicans believe in the concept of death not being the end of a person’s life as Paz

As a little girl, I learned a lot about my Mexican heritage. I even joined my parents in their dance group and still involved in it today. Over the years it’s been so fun, and it helped me learn a lot about different Mexican counties. Who would've thought that I would learn so much just by dancing. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. Also being a little girl I learned about “Day Of The Dead” which in Spanish is called “dia de los muertos” which is a two day celebration. The day’s in which this takes place is September 1 and 2nd. September 1st we honor the children and September 2nd we honor the adults. When I was little I never fully understood why we celebrated people deaths. I always thought when someone dies we show our respects and grief about it, but throwing a whole

The culture of Mexico reflects the country’s complex history and is the result of the gradual blending of native culture with Spanish culture and other immigrant cultures. Mexico’s culture revolves around and is most prominent in music, food, and celebrations. The combination of beliefs and customs creates the unique Mexican culture.

In our society today, culture is not what it used to be hundreds of years ago. There is no more “pure” culture. Our culture today is enriched with many different traditions and customs that are being shared and adopted. Due to emigration and immigration, a variety of diverse customs, beliefs, and knowledge moved with every exiting and entering human being. Thus, changing and shaping the culture of many. Throughout the world, the beliefs and religious views of culture are dissimilar around the world. By taking the time to read, listen and learn about certain people’s culture, there will be knowledge and understanding that will be gained.