Mrs. Perez By Oscar Casares

The short story of La viuda de Montiel by Gabriel García Márquez is about how a widow copes with the death of her husband and how she is treated by the rest of her town. Through the use of imagery and third person narrative, I feel Marquez highlights two main themes of isolation and the roles of men and women throughout the period in which it was written. Isolation is a prominent theme in the story and at the beginning of the extract the widow is described as being “lacerada por la supersticion”. The verb “lacerada” suggests the painful separation of her from her husband, Jose Montiel. Without him, she is isolated and secluded from the rest of the town.

A life in the city of Seguin, Texas was not as easy as Cleofilas, the protagonist of the story thought it would be. The author, Cisneros describes the life women went through as a Latino wife through Cleofilas. Luckily, Cisneros is a Mexican-American herself and had provided the opportunity to see what life is like from two window of the different cultures. Also, it allowed her to write the story from a woman’s point of view, painting a vision of the types of problems many women went through as a Latino housewife. This allows readers to analyze the characters and events using a feminist critical view. In the short story “Women Hollering Creek” Sandra Cineros portrays the theme of expectation versus reality not only through cleofilas’s thoughts but also through her marriage and television in order to display how the hardship of women in a patriarchal society can destroy a woman’s life.

In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, the author presents the reader with recurring mysterious images and characters. In visual art, repetition of colors, shapes and textures is used to create unity, emphasis and rhythm. Because Diaz is painting his story with words he is using the literary device of repetition for the same reasons, for emphasis, to create a rhythm and to tie the account together. The narrative of Oscar and the Cabral and De Leon families and friends moves back and forth in time and the repetition of images with slight variations is a powerful way of maintaining and connecting the story line or theme in what may seem like a jumble of events. The “man with no face” and “paginas en blanco” , ‘blank pages’ or missing words are just a few of the recurring symbols used to connect past, present and further and to emphasize the predictable yet random feelings and consequences of 'Fuku'. By looking more closely at how and why these symbols were used, the major theme represented in the story of Oscar’s wonderful life, becomes apparent.

It’s inevitable for somebody to find themselves in the middle of an important transition in their lives. Humans will grow and age as time goes on and with time, they will begin to discover who they are as individuals. Whether they’re moving to a new home, publically announcing their sexual orientation, or embracing a new identity, transitions and changes are bound to occur. Gloria Anzaldúa recognizes this concept in her essay “Border Arte: Nepantla, el Lugar de la Frontera” by stating “Nepantla is the Hahuatl word for an in-between state, that uncertain terrain one crosses when moving from one place to another, when changing from one class, race, or sexual position to another, when traveling from the present identity into a new identity.” (Anzaldúa 180) This state of nepantla is the middle of the crossroads in moments in our lives. It identifies the middle section in between two locations or destinations as its very own. For example, a person could be in a situation that calls for them to go from Point 1 to Point 2 in any kind of situation. Nepantla would be seen as Point 1 ½. It’s this middle ground that is dealt with in various kinds of ways. A method of assessing this grey area is mentioned by Anzaldúa in her essay. She introduces the idea of “border arte” as a medium to channel the state of Nepantla. It’s very subjective from one individual from the next on what could be considered border art.

Luz, the neighbor of Nelson’s family, in Daniel Alarcon’s “Second Lives,” had endured a change in personality over the years. She and her husband, Alejandro, were described as “the rare neighborhood couple with no kids, possessing no concept of the kinds of things children might like” (68). She loved to entertain the neighbor boys, Francisco and Nelson, but all of that changed when her husband left her for a woman ten years her senior. She hid herself away in her house out of shame, and was embarrassed to speak to any of the other neighbors. To the reader, she might seem like a paranoid and untrusting older lady, but upon further analysis, it is clear that Luz’s changing personality is the product of the circumstances of her past.

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

Women abuse is still a current topic in our society. “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros explores this theme and gives a pattern that is followed by most abused women today. In this reading, Cleofilas’s expectation of a perfect telenovela marriage is ruined by the reality of her abusive husband Juan Pedro. When Cleofila got married, she did not know that she was walking into a trap, a prison filled with pain and bitterness. Cleofila will go out her comfort zone, away from her brothers and father who before she left, promised to never abandon her.

In the story, ”Like Mexicans” by author Gary Soto explains how he was always told him to marry a girl from his same ethnicity, but unexpectedly fell in love and married a Japanese girl. Sotos grandmother advised him to marry a girl that fitted the stereotype of a Mexican girl. He decided to ask his mom about the issue. His mom agreed that if he were to find a righteous Mexican women to marry her. Soto decides to ask Scott as well, who happened to be a second generation okie. An okie was what his grandma would call any person that was from a different ethnicity than them. They talk about their future how one day they hope to reach the American Dream. They share the same vision of marrying someone. It was shocking to him, that he ended up marrying a Japanese woman because he never imagined marrying someone that wasn 't Mexican. When he was twenty years old, he fell in love with a girl that he knew his grandma would be concerned about. Soto told his mom about the woman and how she was the one for him and the more he talked about her the more his mom seemed to be worried. That’s when he realized that his mother wanted him to marry someone from his own social class. Everyone agreed that indeed he wasn 't good enough for his fiancee. One day Carolyn took Soto to her home to meet her parents. Soto was nervous, until he sees her house and how alike their houses looked. He acknowledges how alike their ethnicities were, mainly in the economic sense. As Soto is in the roadway he

Sandra Cisneros’ short story, “Never Marry a Mexican”, indirectly underlines her perspective, her interpretation, judgement, and critical evaluation of her subject, the work and its title. This perspective is evident in her use of literary devices, diction, and language structure in her narrative. The purpose of the use of these elements in the way that she does is ultimately linked to understanding her viewpoint on the subject. The author’s perspective is embedded in the meaning of the story and its theme. Her interpretations are valid, and justified in detail throughout the story to add color and vibrancy to her characters. Her judgment is lightly touched upon but only clearly and directly given at the end of the story, to allow the

The author creates themes of commonality that are relatable to many in this story story. There is a crucial moment in rebellious child’s lives that pushes them to act out. For Lola this happens to be her mother and her battle with breast cancer, “with her cancer there wasn’t much she could do anymore” (Diaz 5). Lola,

Mrs. Fox, by Sarah Hall was published in 2014. Mrs. Fox is a short story by Sarah Hall about a woman who turns into a fox during her pregnancy, much to the dismay of her husband. Mrs. Fox describes a woman who is not satisfied with her life with her husband, Mr. Fox. They both remain detached thorough the story. When Mrs. Fox turns into a fox, Mr. Fox does not understand why his wife was not happy or satisfied in her human life. Sarah Hall does a wonderful job of displaying out an unusually intriguing setting, a breath taking characterization of the two main characters Mr. and Mrs. Fox, and she displays a dark and modern theme, rightfully earning the BBC National short story

The poem “Mothers and Daughters” is written by Pat Mora. Pat Mora is a contemporary award winning writer, who writes for children, youngsters and adults. She was born in El Paso, TX in the year 1942. She attains a title of a Hispanic writer; however, the most of her poems are in English. In her literary work, one can observe the different aspects of the immigrants’ lives such as language issues, family relationships, immigrants’ experiences and cultural differences (1187).

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.

“Yolanda” by Oscar Casares is a story narrated by a thirty-six-year-old man reflecting on his experiences during one summer in his youth. The story starts in present day before recounting the experiences of the summer he met Yolanda. She was the young wife of Frank, a controlling older husband, who moved in next door to the narrator when he was twelve years old. The narrator thinks Yolanda is beautiful and develops a huge crush on her, so he can’t help but listen to Yolanda and Frank’s fights and make-up sessions throughout the summer since their houses are so close together. His feelings for Yolanda grow when she spends time looking after him when he comes down with chickenpox. Ultimately, Frank and Yolanda have a huge fight and Yolanda

First, I have read the story "Aunt Zeze's Tears" by Carmen Dolores which I liked very much because the writer has created a very rich character in detail which calls Maria-José or simply Zézé. If I had to live in the world of the story I have read, my day would change in many ways, and in others, it might have some resemblance to the character. A very important point of this story is when Zézé was living with her sister who had five children after her father died where she has been for the last eighteen years. Here, we realized that the character did not have many prospects to live her own life. This time, she has been at her sister's house may have a lot to do with the personality of the character. Then, my personality is different from the