Themes Of Multiculturalism In Not For Sale By Judith Ortiz Cofer

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Recommended: Multicultural Literature: An Essay. (2000). Multicultural Perspectives l(2), 33-37

Minority writers like W.EB. DuBois, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Sherman Alexie, have endeavored to vocalize the unheard voices of their people through literature. Their poems, short stories and novels echo sentiments of inequalities, prejudices, and the struggles of living as a minority in America. They also courageously share their perspectives on how the conflicts between their respective native cultures and the majority shape their lives and the world around them. These authors through their stories provide deeper insights on the concept of diversity. Authors from differing minority backgrounds have shown the variety of lenses in which diversity can be viewed and understood. Their writings show the evolution of diversity through time. Although …show more content…

In her childhood, Cofer traveled back and forth from Puerto Rico to the United States due to her father’s active military career. This caused her to be entrenched in both worlds, literally and figuratively. She also expresses the issues she faced and experiences due to her dual cultural heritages through her works. In her short story: Not for Sale, Cofer divulges the identity conflict she experiences in having to merge her father’s deeply rooted Puerto Rican traditions with the customs of the new world she was immersed in. She writes “I was being denied everything by my father: no dating like other sixteen-year-olds (I was a decent Puerto Rican senorita, not a wild American teenager); no driver 's license (the streets of Paterson were too dangerous for an inexperienced driver -- he would take me where I needed to go); no end-of-the-school-year weekend trip with my junior class to Seaside Heights (even though three teachers would be chaperoning us). No, no, no, with a short Spanish "o."” (Cofer, 1992. P.1). She points out the challenges of been torn between on culture and the

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