Ironing Their Clothes By Julia Alvarez

Fairy tales tell us that once upon a time a girl met a boy; they fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Reality is not that simple. Long-term relationships force couples to become more acquainted with each other, include themselves in each others’ worlds and eventually develop further connections. However, a relationship can come to an end point and therefore one will try to come back in the other’s life. This type of relationship is remarked in Fran Kimmel’s short story “Laundry Day”. The author suggests that getting rid of unhealthy relationship leads to happiness, the author uses the protagonist’s transformation, contrasting characters and symbols.

Oscar Casares was born and raised in the southern town of Brownsville, Texas; also the setting of his short story “Mrs. Perez”, which captures the life of an elderly woman who discovers a new life- literally and figuratively- after her husband’s death. Casares uses the story structure of flashback as a style element to influence the interpretation of the story. The author’s style can be seen in the story’s flashback which shows the time sequence jump from present day, to a time in Mrs. Perez’ past. “After the girls started school, Lola found a job as a receptionist at a doctor's office”.

Leaving the comforts of the first world, Jessica Alexander abandons her job, fiancé, family, and home to venture into the misleading volunteer work of Humanitarian aid. Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander is a conglomeration of stories that are written from Jessica’s memory. “It is a true account based on [Jessica’s] best recollections of the events and [her] experiences.”.

In the novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the theme of growing up is prevalent throughout the book. Throughout the novel, a young mexican girl named Esperanza goes through experiences as she matures that involve her friends, society, dangers that expose her to the outside world and help her to realize what the real world is like.

Two best friends, Chris and Win, decided to do something great their summer of senior year before heading of to collage. Chris and Win are going to bike along the West Coast to Seattle, where Win’s uncle lives. At first Chris’s mom is against them going, while his dad pushes him to go because he had a similar dream that he did not accomplish. Win’s parents seem to not have a care in the world that their son is going to bike across the country. Eventually both sets of parents agree and the boys start their journey. The trip is going great but somewhere along the way things started taking a turn for the worst. The book Shift by Jennifer Bradbury is a great realistic mystery that keeps the pages turning.

“Undressing Aunt Frieda,” is a poem about the narrator’s remembrance of his Aunts life while visiting her on a death bed. The narrative is in first person, and takes place as the narrator and his daughter are about to leave the relative. The first half of the poem explores Frieda and her past. The second half is about how the narrator and daughter have grown and learned from the aunt. While undressing her aunt, the narrator feels emotions and remembers his past with Frieda. The poem describes these emotions and memories in a metaphor explaining unique characteristics of how Aunt Frieda undressed, and how she impacted the relatives.

“But, I 'm already resigned to this fate / Looking over my life, I recall / If it hadn 't been / for the loneliness / I 'd have no companion at all. ” This stanza from “Loneliness”, by Lora Colon evokes the negative impact a lonely fate has on a person. Words like “resigned” and “loneliness” establish a sense of depression and resignation. During the times of the Great Depression, many people felt similar feelings of melancholy and stoicism. Jobs were hard to come by, and realistic dreams of success were scarce. John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, allows readers to see the life of the Great Depression. The two main characters, George and Lennie, search for jobs, like many other migrant workers. They dream of owning their own land, however, Lennie’s habit of getting in trouble prevents their dream from being reality. After he accidentally causes more trouble at their new job, George is forced to kill him out of mercy. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck shows that even if one meticulously plans out the road to their American Dream, fate will inevitably intervene and lead one to desolation and loneliness.

In the short story, Lather and Nothing Else by Fernando Tellez, the barber is portrayed with a pensive personality. When the barber questions whether he would consider himself a “murderer or a hero”, he is pensive because he thinks deeply about the way he, and those around him, would identify him if he were to kill Captain Torres. Plotting out the murder, the barber also had to ask himself questions such as “where to hide the body” which sent him into a deeper understanding on the crime he was about to commit. Finally, the barber goes into deep contemplation when he decided whether or not Captain Torres “deserves” to be killed by him. With all of these thoughts swarming in the barbers head, he is overwhelmed and has to think deepest about the

Ten year after her second marriage happiness surprised Julia, she knew the man who  became her third husband. The true companero for the women she had become.    The “first Muse” by Julia Alvarez show us that we have to overcome our obstacle in  order to get successful. Julia had to deal with a dictatorship and bullying at her school but that  didn’t stop

In her novel Factory Girls, Leslie Chang offers an insider’s perspective of the Chinese export business that ultimately exposes the true colors of factory life in China to the people of the western society. Throughout the novel, she cites historical reasoning as to why a sudden growth in factory workers has occurred and how it has turned into the monstrous industry that it is now. Mainly, she credits the large migration of people from the rural areas to the cities because this caused major political reform. The PRC were then able to move into the global economy with a new strategy, given by Deng Xiao Ping, which consequently caused trade to open up and certain cities to be designated as placeholders for economic development with the potential for newer business.

In Meredith Small’s article Our Babies, Ourselves she focuses on people’s social and psychological development through examining the different cultural aspects of raising a child. During this process she compares the American perspective of treating babies, to those of the Gusii and the Dutch. Throughout her examination many points are made that I believe can give the reader’s a valuable understanding of the impact of different means of parenthood on a child’s future development.

In the short story, the writer tells a woman’s depression which guides her to break the limits and restrictions over woman. The woman who has no name or identity symbolises all women’s suppressed position in patriarchal society. In the story, the woman describes the house and her rooms with the words; ancestral hall, old-fashioned chintz, barred windows, heavy-immovable bed. The descriptions depict the house as patriarchy’s realm. Also, the yellow wallpaper’s surrounding of her shows the woman in a trapped, confined and repressed position. Not only the yellow symbolise the weakness, but the paper also

As they get older, many people start to experience a sense of demoralization and little self-worth. Nikki Giovanni reflects her dismay in the poem “Quilts” by comparing herself to an old piece of cloth as she transitions from hopeless to hopeful throughout her acceptance of aging.

At some point of a kid’s life, they want to be picky about something. They want to have some control of their little world where adults are constantly telling them what to wear, what to do, and what to eat. Food, for instance, is an easy topic where kids will fight for some independence. Throwing, yelling, crying and even bribing were the essence of a battle at dinner tables. Because some parents would automatically give in to their children’s need, the kids often think they won the battle but technically they didn’t. In the story, “Picky Eater”, Julia Alvarez tells a story of her childhood experience of home meals where her and her sisters were also picky eaters, despite having healthy food served to them. Meals, she said, “at home were battlegrounds. Even if you won the dinner battle, refusing to clean your plate or drink your engrudo, you inevitably lost the war” (Alvarez 145). Battlegrounds at home can occur but it doesn’t have to end up being messy if the parents know how to handle the situation properly.

“BEFOR I CAN TALK TO YOU, PEOPLE SHOW THEIR SEX, AGE, CALSS, POSITION, WITH WHAT THEY ARE WEARING. ALL THIS IS REGISTERED UNCONCIOSLY“ Those words said by Alison Lurie in the language of clothes (1992), reflect perfectly the main point of my research. The society we are now living is an extremely conscious society regarding body image and the way we are presented to the exterior. We found an obsessive trend on wanting to look like celebrities by having certain items or looks and in relation to that a fear of not being percepted the tight way. This is where we found relation to how clothes are part of a conversation we haven 't started and are a form of expression. As there will be explained further on, we use clothes as a sign of our identity,as a way of representing ourselves and stand out from the crowd and also influence on how we appear in front of others making them (clothes) a huge part of our non verbal communication. This essay will discuss the ideas behind self -expression and the role of clothes has changed in that mater thought time.