Alex Morales dream is to be the first Puerto Rican president of the United States. At seventeen he has a lot more to go, but is dedicated to his studies and to his religion. Getting a scholarship at one of the best schools in New York, St. Vincent de Paul Academy, Alex works hard, determine to outshine his older brother, Carlos, who went into the Marines. For Alex, it was just a normal day when the asteroid hit the moon, sadly that was the last normal day he had for a while. With father in Puerto Rico for their grandmother funeral, mother at work, Carlos in Texas, it was up to Alex to take care of his younger sisters: Bri and Julie. When things start getting bad, Alex has to step up and makes the hard decisions, as he battles headstrong Julie, …show more content…
What would you do? Asteroid hit the moon closer and suddenly everything is over. Governments go into hiding, money means nothing, no electricity, and people are killing over food. With the northern states, winter is coming and with no heat, well what would you do? Alex Morals was the point of view of this survival story of Susan Pfeffer. Strong willed, Alex is thrusted into the father position for his two younger sisters. Julie, is what you would expect from a twelve/thirteen-year-old girl, who had never gotten along with Alex. Alex does is best, but readers can tell that the stress of the situation makes him snap at Julie, bringing in the reality of how tough their situation has become. Unlike Pfeffer first part, the setting of New York is much different. With a higher density, Alex easily knows about the food aid, and yet have to wait hours in line, deals with the problem of dead bodies, rats, flooding, and the fact that he and his sisters are parentless. Some questions are not answered, which is kind of annoying, but this is also a book in a series, so hopefully Alex will come up again. From the days of May 18 to December 29, Alex must hold his faith high, let go of his pride and survive the
Alexander Stowe is a twin, his brother is Aaron Stowe. Alex is an Unwanted, Aaron is a Wanted, and their parents are Necessaries. Alex is creative in a world where you can’t even see the entire sky, and military is the dream job for everyone and anyone. He should have been eliminated, just like all the unwanteds should have been. He instead comes upon Artimè, where he trains as a magical warrior- after a while. When he was still in basic training, and his friends were not, he got upset, he wants to be the leader, the one everyone looks up to.
While staring back into the faces of small children much like his younger self, Rodriguez starts to run through points of his life where the need to know more pushed him further from his family and their norms and culture. Mainly focusing on the bright future an education offers him, he continues to knowingly distance himself from his family. Douglass went through similar situations on his path for education. Focusing on his chance for freedom, with no family ties to distance
“Complexion” by Richard Rodriguez is a story I don’t feel I can connect and identify with because even though I am a Mexican American, I have never gone through his painful circumstances. This is the story of a Mexican American in United States who went through countless racism, insults, and disappointments. He encountered moments of inferiority because of his ethnic group and color skin. He was a person that not only was offended in public, but also he received criticism from his mother. There is a quote from his mother that says, “You know how important looks are in this country. With los gringos looks are all that they judge on. But you! Look at you! You’re so careless!” (Line15-19) By these words I can mention that humiliation and judgment
In Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina, neighborhoods symbolize limits that have to be overcome. On Piddy’s first day of her new school, when she steps into the cafeteria, she notices that there are different neighborhoods- the latin kids have a group of tables, as well as the asian kids, the black kids and the outcasts. In terms of geographical neighborhoods, Piddy’s friend Mitzi moves to get away from the bad neighborhood. Also, Yaqui, who bullies Piddy, lives in the Bland which is thought of as a neighborhood for nobodies.
Diaz is of Dominican-American descent. He grew up with his mother and grandparents, while Diaz’s father worked in the United States. In Nilda, the main characters are Dominican-American, who live in poverty, in broken homes. Diaz confesses, “I can safely say I've seen the US from the bottom up...I may be a success story as an individual. But…I would say my family….Tells the story of enormous poverty, of tremendous difficulty” (Wikipedia). Diaz was an avid reader and would walk four miles just to get to a library. Against all odds, Diaz received his BA from Rutgers College and eventually obtained an MFA from Cornell University (Wikipedia). Similarly, Diaz’s main character, Yunior, is described as having “an IQ that would have broken you in two” (Diaz 31) and he too eventually leaves the neighborhood to attend college. Yunior’s outlook for a brighter future than he currently finds himself in is indicative of Diaz’s own “success story as an individual”
The purpose of this memo is to compare the similarities and contrast the differences between Jimmy Hoffa Sr. and Cesar Chavez. Both Hoffa and Chavez were great charismatic labor organizers who had different methods of achieving their goals for their union. They had vastly different attitudes and personalities which aided them both in different ways. To fully understand each individual, a bit of background information is necessary.
In The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail, Oscar Martinez comments on the injustices that occur while migrating from Central America. Central Americans are forced to leave their countries in fear of the inevitable consequences. The systematic abuse Central Americans endure while migrating is founded on that fear which results in more repercussions for migrants. The psychological effects of migrating is used by Martinez to give insight on the atrocities that happen in Central America. The corruption involved while migrating in Central America is against human rights and should be brought immediate attention internationally. Martinez uses the experiences of migrants to expose Mexico’s passivity on the subject and to expose readers’ to the hard truths that occur while migrating.
By tracing the roots of Puerto Rican development from the Spanish invasion to today, one can see the influence of the dominant power in the interaction between different races of Puerto Rico, effecting how they viewed each other, and themselves. Isabel’s family, which is composed of Spanish and Corsican immigrants, reflects the attitudes that helped form Puerto Rican racial divisions. While she speaks from the point of view of a member of the upper class, there is a great deal of history behind the attitudes that influence the House on the Lagoon that she only lightly touches upon. Although Puerto Rican society has been racially mixed, issues such as class, imperialism, and outside prejudices have created a split between the different races.
To close, it is possible to say that to be part of American society and to gain a public identity, Rodriguez believes that it is necessary to assimilate the American culture. Rodriguez believes that it is correct to speak English in the USA because English is the language of public life. As a consequence of this, Rodriguez partially lost his family and his cultural ties. As a personal opinion, I can say that although Rodriguez believes that assimilation is necessary to be part of American society, family traditions, and backgrounds are just as important if not more than conforming to a culture. I strongly believe than people can keep their culture within another one. Richard Rodriguez could have kept part of his Hispanic heritage and still become Americanized.
In this story, the reader can see exactly how, many Puerto Ricans feel when living on other grounds. Throughout this time, the boy that Rodriguez presents us realizes he has his culture and that he wants to preserve it as much as he can. “Because I’m Puerto Rican”. I ain’t no American. And I’m not a Yankee flag-waver”
The novel ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’, by Junot Diaz gives a very entertaining insight towards many social dynamics that are relevant to Dominican culture, and it fits very well within the scope of the course; and, although it is a work of fiction, this novel is set in New Jersey, and deals specifically with the Dominican Republic experience under the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. From what I’ve learned after reading the first half of this book, there is certainly a lot that can be discussed. Thankfully the book’s versatile portrayal of vivid topics that are seldom discussed shine light upon these many issues that face such an overlooked culture, especially for the American audience.
Her eyes were heavy, her body weak. As she crawled into the bathroom two feet away, Abby felt her body slowly succumbing to the numbness. All of her pain would be gone in less than 10 minutes, so why would she want to turn back? What about the senior trip Abby had planned with her best friend? What about the chair at the dinner table that would now be vacant? A couple of hours later Abby’s family came home from her little sister’s soccer game. Little did they know what they would find as they approached the top of the stairs. Her little sister, Ali, stood still as she looked down at her feet. There on the cold floor lay her big sister, her role model, and her super hero. Ali was crushed when she saw the pill bottle in her hand and the pale color of her skin. Her mom fell to her knees screaming and crying, wondering where she
The hair company Herbal Essences perceives beauty to be sexually striking to the eyes. Their advertisement that was found in InTouch Magazine is selling Moroccan My Shine shampoo and conditioner product that will enhance more shine and silkiness in a women’s hair. The enhancement of the shine will provide women to have this sensual seductiveness about them self. To convince these consumers that this product is true to its claim, they use the beautiful pop singer Nicole Scherzinger as the model to illustrate her hair and how the product achieves to create this sexual shine. The overall advertisement creates this theme that if women were to use their product they will empower on this desirable affect to other people. Herbal Essences definition of beauty as being sexually attractive use design, use of celebrity, word choice, and audience to show that women need to have silky shine hair.
Being 7 years of age, a child’s only problem should be which toy they should play with. Unfortunately, for Eric Lopez at 7 years old he was put to work with his family to help support the household. Being the oldest of 3, the responsibilities of being the oldest meant working with his parents after school and on weekends, taking care of his brother and sister, and still maintaining to keep up with his schoolwork. This is the reality of how growing up in a Latino community has humbled Eric’s vision of life in this country. Experiencing the societal effects that economic policies have on Latinos first hand has influenced his designs tremendously. Although, through all the challenges Eric faced he managed to persevere and managed to enroll to
“If I stay” a book written by Gayle Forman was a story about a seventeen year old girl by the name of Mia Hall who lives in her Oregon with her Mom, Dad, and brother. On a snowy morning Mia and her family decide to go see their family members since school was cancelled due to the snow, but after driving for some time Mia wakes up in her car, the only problem is the car has been totaled by a pickup truck. After Mia climbs out the car she sees her dead parents and brother as well as her own body, throughout the book she argues if she should die with her parents or stay and live with her other friends and family who are alive.