An Analysis Of Julia Alvarez's Daughter Of Invention

1092 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Writing about bullying

In Julia Alvarez’s short story “Daughter of Invention” the speaker needed to read and Write to save her life. In this character’s case, she needed to read and write to save her social life. In as an immigrant who moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States, she needs to become part of the culture of the country. Learning English and be able to speak the language well is important to being accepted into the culture. She described United States culture as hostile and “took root in the language” to help merge herself with the culture (). Without, learning the language, how to write she would be forever be shunned by the English speakers in the United States. This would make her life extremely difficult because in the United States …show more content…

In “Daughter of Invention” the speaker was having trouble writing a speech that one of her teachers wanted her to give at an assembly. She was having trouble writing the speech so she read a Whitman poem that her father got her from a thrift store near his work (). She was inspired by the poem so she was able to right the whole speech that night. That was the first time that she ever full expressed herself while writing. The final and most obvious similarity between the two pieces of literature was that both speakers were bullied. Alexie stated in his essay that he “fought with my classmates on a daily basis” this was because his classmates did not like him participating in class because it made them feel stupid ( ). The speaker in “daughter of invention” had rocks thrown at her and her sisters because she was an immigrant (). Even with these similarities, the speakers were in situations that were different from each other’s. In the speaker in “Daughter of Invention” was an immigrant from The Dominican republic English was not here first …show more content…

Also, in Alexie’s situation he’s expected to be mediocre by both students and teachers alike because he was a “dumb Indian” (). While the speaker in daughter mentioned was encouraged to share and read in front of the class by her teachers. Since, both of their School environments were different they each had a different schooling experience. Finally, they both grew up in different cultures. The Speaker in “Daughter of Invention” what is a Dominican- American, so she had the conflict between the Dominican culture where she was expected to be a housekeeper/mother and the American culture where she could be anything she wanted to be (). While Alexie grew up on a Native American reservation in the United States in a different culture then she did. These differences in their situations affected the meaning or reading and writing for both of the characters giving them a different Perspective on what the mean of reading and writing. The speaker in “daughter of invention” saw the meaning of writing as a way to express herself, while Alexie saw it as a chance to learn and get more intelligent. In daughter of invention, being from the Dominican Republic the speaker was expected grow up to be mother someday(). However, the American culture made her realize that she could be whatever she

Show More
Related

  • Comparing 'Girl' To Rudyard Kipling's Girl

    299 Words  | 1 Pages

    ¨If¨ by Rudyard Kipling and ¨Girl¨ by Jamaica Kincaid are both letters to a child written by their parents in the form of a poem. In the letters the parents set expectations the child is expected to follow in the future. They are very similar with some differences. The goal of this essay is to compare and contrast the two texts.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Frederick Douglass And Sandra Cisneros

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    She learned to read and write at school, but that doesn't mean that other obstacles weren't thrown her way. “I am the only daughter in a Mexican family of six sons”. Being the only daughter meant that she would be spending a lot of time to herself, she needed something to keep her occupied. Who knew that writing would be the answer. When she was in fifth grade and decided to share her plans for college with her father, he had said “Que bueno, mija”. The problem is that her father had envisioned another path for her. “What I didn't realize was that my father thought college was good for girls- for finding a husband”. Just imagine how hard it was for her to go against her father's wishes and continue to follow her true calling.

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue By Amy Tan And Richard Rodriguez

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    The writings of Amy Tan and Richard Rodriguez’s depicts a bilingual story based on two differing culture. On Mother Tongue, “Tan explores the effect of her mother’s “broken” English on her life and writing” (506). On the other hand, Richard Rodriguez “recounts the origin of his complex views of bilingual education through Public and Private Language” (512). From a child’s eyes, Tan and Rodriguez describe each joys and pain growing up in a non-English speaking family. Hence, may be viewed that cultural differences plays a major role on how one handles adversities.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Se Habla Español

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Se Habla Español,” is written by a Latin author, Tanya Barrientos; and Amy Tan, a Chinese author, wrote “Mother Tongue”. In both literate narratives the authors write about their experiences with language and how it impacted their lives. In This essay we will be discussing the similarities as well as the differences in the stories and the authors of “Se Habla Español” and “Mother Tongue”. We will discuss how both authors use a play on words in their titles, how language has impacted their lives, how struggling with language has made them feel emotionally, and how both authors dealt with these issues.

    Read More

  • How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

    1942 Words  | 4 Pages

    of the native tongue is lost , certain holidays may not be celebrated the same , and American born generations feel that they might have lost their identity , making it hard to fit in either cultures . Was is significant about this book is the fact it’s like telling a story to someone about something that happened when they were kid . Anyone can relate because we all have stories from when we were kids . Alvarez presents this method of writing by making it so that it doesn’t feel like it’s a story about Latin Americans , when

    Read More

  • In Richard Rodriguez's Mother Tongue And A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.

    Read More

  • Amy Tan's Mother Tongue

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Essay written by Amy Tan titled 'Mother Tongue' concludes with her saying, 'I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict' (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amy's mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mother's 'Broken' English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the 'Simple' English spoken in her family 'Has become a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk' (36). Little did she know that she was actually speaking more than one type of English. Amy Tan was successful in providing resourceful information in every aspect. This gave the reader a full understanding of the disadvantages Amy and her mother had with reading and writing. The Essay 'Mother Tongue' truly represents Amy Tan's love and passion for her mother as well as her writing. Finally getting the respect of her critics and lucratively connecting with the reaction her mother had to her book, 'So easy to read' (39). Was writing a book the best way to bond with your own mother? Is it a struggle to always have the urge to fit in? Was it healthy for her to take care of family situations all her life because her mother is unable to speak clear English?

    Read More

  • Comparison of Characters in “Story of an Hour” and “Chrysanthemums”

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both stories show the characters inequality with their lives as women bound to a society that discriminates women. The two stories were composed in different time frames of the women’s rights movement; it reveals to the readers, that society was not quite there in the fair treatment towards the mothers, daughters, and wives of United States in either era. Inequality is the antagonist that both authors created for the characters. Those experiences might have helped that change in mankind to carve a path for true equality among men and women.

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue by Amy Tan

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the work of Amy Tan’s “Mother’s Tongue” she provides a look into how she adapted her language to assimilate into American culture. She made changes to her language because her mother heavily relied on her for translation. She was the voice of her mother, relaying information in standard English to those who were unable to understand her mother’s broken english. She tells about her mother’s broken english and its impact on her communication to those outside their culture. Her mothers broken english limited others’ perception of her intelligence, and even her own perception of her mother was scewed: Tan said, “I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mothers ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (419) The use of standard english was a critical component to Tan’s assimilation into American culture. Standard English was an element she acquired to help her mother but more importantly is was an element that helped in her gain success as a writer. Tan changed her ‘Englishes’ (family talk) to include standard English that she had learnt in school and through books, the forms of English that she did not use at home with her mother. (417-418) Tan realized the ch...

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue by Amy Tan

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite growing up amidst a language deemed as “broken” and “fractured”, Amy Tan’s love for language allowed her to embrace the variations of English that surrounded her. In her short essay “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the internal conflict she had with the English learned from her mother to that of the English in her education. Sharing her experiences as an adolescent posing to be her mother for respect, Tan develops a frustration at the difficulty of not being taken seriously due to one’s inability to speak the way society expects. Disallowing others to prove their misconceptions of her, Tan exerted herself in excelling at English throughout school. She felt a need to rebel against the proverbial view that writing is not a strong suit of someone who grew up learning English in an immigrant family. Attempting to prove her mastery of the English language, Tan discovered her writing did not show who she truly was. She was an Asian-American, not just Asian, not just American, but that she belonged in both demographics. Disregarding the idea that her mother’s English could be something of a social deficit, a learning limitation, Tan expanded and cultivated her writing style to incorporate both the language she learned in school, as well as the variation of it spoken by her mother. Tan learned that in order to satisfy herself, she needed to acknowledge both of her “Englishes” (Tan 128).

    Read More

  • Growing Up Speaking Spanish

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people immigrate to the United States from different countries to begin a better life. Once in the American territory, the first step for success is to learn the English language. Richard Rodriguez, the writer of "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" describes the language decisions he faced as a child: "Outside the house was public society; inside the house was private" (16). The English language is the primary language in the United States, and it must be learned to be able to communicate with the public world. The language that we speak at home is considered to be private because it is only used in the presence of the people we feel comfortable with, our family. Families immigrate to the United States from Mexico to find and give their children a better opportunity to succeed. The children of immigrants who have been raised or born in the United States were able to adapt much faster to the English language. The Spanish language, in the case of Mexicans, is part of our origin that most of us inherit from our ancestors although in the United States many, including me, seem to add a new language, which gives us better opportunities.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of The Jungle By Upton Sinclair

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the early 1900's a newly arrived immigrant worker faced numerous challenges that had to be overcome. Often times literally arriving with the clothes on their back and a few meager dollars, it was crucial for these individuals to find work and lodging as soon as possible. The first challenge faced by this individual was the language. Not speaking English places this person at a severe disadvantage when trying to hold even a simple conversation.

    Read More

  • Dominican History: Julia And The Dominican Republic

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this chapter, Julia describes a time in which she was invited back to the Dominican Republic to speak and was able to meet a Dominican who promptly patronized her. This writer said she was not an American writer and should stay true to her roots, however as Julia details through this chapter she isn’t really either. She does have the Dominican history and a short time period there, yet she was grown and raised in the USA basically. She is able to understand and express herself much better in english than in Spanish and as a writer it is her choice. If her history was different than in might change that, but it is not so she is the person she is.

    Read More

  • How Does Language Shape The Way We Think

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    She realized the value of her language when she lost it and now treasures it. The kind of Spanish she speaks is neither English nor Spanish, but both. It is overflowing with culture from Medieval Spain, France, Germany, etc., just from the origins of the words. It is her pride and a representation of herself, fighting and living. In conclusion, in addition to Lera Boroditsky’s article proving that the structure of language affects how we think, the articles by Eric Liu, Amy Tan, and Gloria Anzaldua show how language is a foundation for a person’s culture, pride, and self.

    Read More

More about An Analysis Of Julia Alvarez's Daughter Of Invention

Open Document