Victor Villasenor's Use Of Pathos In Burro Genius

As human beings evolve from infancy to elderly stages in life, times of struggle and hardship continually challenge their kin and personage; as life tests their mental fortitude and survival dexterity. In essays “My Father’s hands” by author Daisy Hernandez, and “Beginning Dialogues” by author Toi Derricotte, life and its whirl wind of ups and downs are expressed and exemplified. Both authors’ upbringings share various similarities on their evolutionary road trip through life. Struggling with hardship and abuse, how both authors’ dealt with their hardships, and how they ultimately survived/overcame these trying events, show similar correlations.

Burro Genius is story about the life of Victor Villasenor showing how he overcame racism at school and his difficulties in reading to become a famous writer.

Victor Edmundo Villasenor is a Chicano writer who wrote a memoir titled, Burro Genius. The memoir is based on the experiences that he had gone through as a student in an educational system that was set in a time where racial prejudice views existed and were the nations normal views if you were an Anglo. The book tells the importance of being able to define your identity and the challenges that a person would have to face especially as a first-generation Chicano. Although his family was well off, because of the color of his skin and his ethnicity, he was not seen as an equal by the white and lighter skin people. Edmundo explains the reality of what it is like to be a darker Chicano in a world where two cultures are constantly colliding, and Mexicans are not yet thoroughly accepted by all. His main source of support being his familia, tries to teach him how important it is to be proud of his heritage,

In the “The Achievement of Desire” and “Para Teresa” Richard Rodriguez and Inez Avila describe the troubles of balancing life at home and at school. Rodriguez conveys the difficulties he had to face separating from his own culture to achieve academic success. His article portrays the cultural world and the educational world as separate institutions that cannot coexist in America. Throughout his text Rodriguez provides detailed experiences in order to explain his thought process. Inez Avila however presents her article as a letter dedicated to a school bully. In contrast to Rodriguez perspective Avila wrote her poem in English and Spanish to appeal to Mexican -American culture. She walks the reader through an argument between her and a fellow classmate as she was cornered in a bathroom. Her poem depicts how children who share the same culture discriminate within their own community. Both these articles are told from a Latino-American point of view yet they radically differ from each other.

Have you ever struggled so much, that you just want to give up? Well, a lot of Immigrants had this problem, and constantly they had to say, “ Don’t be afraid to start over.” and the Immigrants did. Esperanza Ortega from Pam Munzos Ryan’s Esperanza Rising, has to say this too. Esperanza had to leave her rich, Mexican, home (because of a fire), and and had to move to California as an Immigrant. While Esperanza began life with no worries, as she got older, she had to deal with strikers, and her deadly Mama’s sickness.

In life there will always be those moments that we most value and those that we wish to avoid. Misfortunes are the situations or events that we wish to vanish from our lives because we view them in a negative way. However, what many choose to avoid is actually something that defines who we are. Misfortunes develop one’s character and it identifies us as a person. Everyone goes through different situations and because of that each and every person develops their own unique character based on those misfortunes. The essays “Flavio’s Home” by Gordon Parks, “What I’ve Learned From Men” by Barbara Ehrenreich, and “Common Decency” by Susan Jacoby all explain to us in detail the situation that a particular person is going through which in the end reveals how the person’s character was developed by that misfortune.

As children grow up in a dysfunctional family, they experience trauma and pain from their parent’s actions, words, and attitudes. With this trauma experienced, they grew up changed; different from other children. The parent’s behavior affects them and whether they like it or not, sometimes it can influence them, and they can react against it or can repeat it. In Junot Díaz’s “Fiesta, 1980”, is presented this theme of the dysfunctional family. The author presents a story of an adolescent Latin boy called Junior, who narrates the chronicles of his dysfunctional family, a family of immigrants from the Dominican Republic driving to a party in the Bronx, New York City. “Papi had been with

In the beginning, Rodriguez would simply correct his parent?s grammatical errors. He also proudly tells his parents that his teacher said that he is losing any traces of a Spanish accent. Soon, his parents can no longer help him with his homework. His family starts to jokingly make fun of him for reading so much. Rodriguez recalls that sometimes his mother would approach him while studying and try to talk to him. But he responded coldly to her inquiries. ?Instead of the flood of intimate sounds that had once flowed smoothly between [them], there was this silence,? (51). He feels that spending time with his family is a waste, or it could be better spent studying. Rodriguez loses the intimate connection he has with his parents, especially his mother. This is detrimental to his emotional well being because it contributes to his seclusion. However, Rodriguez is not truly in solitude until he actively pursues it.

Strength the power that helps people conquer their fears and challenges. “Outlaw: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, is written by an immigrant who fears for his safety Jose Antonio Vargas. In “Exile” the writer is a woman who family desires a better life. A short story “The Trip” by Laila Lalami writes about a boy determined to find a better life and support his family. All three works are passionate about immigration and the difficulties of having starting a new life. Strength and the desire to excel in life is the spark which is used to overcome challenges.

Throughout life, every individual must face obstacles; some more difficult than others. In the story “The Trip” by Laila Lalami, poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez, and article “Outlaw: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, there is a main character who has to face many challenges because of the fact that they’re immigrants. In all three texts, it is evident that being an immigrant has many affects on their lives. However, this label and the obstacles that come with it didn’t stop each character from pushing forward.

All cultures are different and influence how we develop as adults. In my Mexican American culture many virtues of strength, courage, and hope has been passed on. Growing up in an environment where financial hardship prevailed I was still able to observe how my parents had hopeful attitudes, loved, had patience, and kindness toward others. Our strong family unity brought me comfort and confidence in knowing I had their support and guidance. The qualities my family passed on to me are hope, love, patience, kindness, respect, caring, and most significant being helpful. Culture and family engraved in my thoughts that hard work pays off and to uncover meaning in life one must persevere in education and thrive to support those struggling. Life has given me the opportunities to practice many qualities and I’ve learned they are to cherish. They have molded my character somewhat in that, as the years passed, I adapted and applied them. My intent is to keep the principles imparted to me and with a positive attitude, carry myself with might and bravery as I travel forward in life.

Has anyone lived a life without misfortune? Doubtable; even the person with what could be described as the ideal life deals with some form of adversity. The novel, Speak, and the short story, The Third and Final Continent, both use plot as a way to convey themes of hardship. Moreover, these texts both use symbolism in order to develop their themes as well. The Art of Resilience and Speak utilize characterization as a method of developing their respective themes. Speak, The Third and Final Continent, and The Art of Resilience each deal with the theme that all people must learn to cope with adverse situations.

Initially, Rios illustrates a young boy perplexed by a new-found maturity. As the maturation from childhood to adolescence begins, he is facing unfamiliar feelings about the opposite sex. An example of this is

Enrique’s Journey focuses and sheds more light and understanding on the aspects and challenges of extreme poverty, family abandonment, systematic issues of an immigration system and what one has to go through in the face of adversity. The book centers on Enrique who starts out as a young boy living in extreme poverty in Honduras with his family. Enrique is an older adolescent, Hispanic, poverty economic status, unemployed most times, and is in a relationship with one child. This case study will further look at Enrique’s personal experiences from a young child up to young adulthood and how that has shaped his development has a person from coming from such difficult environmental circumstances. This will also look at the different environmental perspectives in the micro, mezzo and macro level when pertaining to effects on human behavior.

Hardships are a permanent part of life we will always come across. They can toughen us up to the world we live in.