An Analysis Of Quinceañera

736 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cultural conflict in two kinds

Most of Judith Ortiz Cofer’s work is highly biographical and inspired by her own experience as a Puerto Rican girl growing up bilingual between the two very different cultures of her native land and New Jersey. She names her grandmother as the “feisty personage” (Rivera 109) “whose voice convinced her of the power of the power of story-telling” (Das 59) and from which Cofer “inherits her storytelling vein” (Rivera 109). She realizes “early in life, [...] that storytelling was a form of empowerment” and “that the women in [her] family were passing on power from one generation to another through fables and stories. They were teaching each other how to cope with life in a world where women led restricted lives” (Rivera 106). Indeed, said stories …show more content…

It is the last piece in one of her more famous books, the memoir Silent Dancing: a Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rico Childhood (1990) and reveals the mental and physical sensations Hispanic girls encounter for the first time on their coming-out day, Quinceañera. A usually joyous occasion, Cofer depicts it in a much darker light than one would expect after having read the title, as it is the bitter, negative side of entering womanhood that she chose to describe. Quinceañera is the celebration a young girl’s coming of age in some parts of Latin America – a traditional birthday party, where customs highlight God, family and friends, food, music and dance. And yet, there is definitely nothing festive about this poem – even though we are presented with some of the stages of the preparation for the event, which would thrill and make any girl happy, Cofer’s choice of words eliminates any trace of gladness for the speaker on our part by creating imagery which is on the verge of being brutal. More often than not, children are not as mature as their bodies indicate they are, and obeying tradition by imposing customs on them can be traumatizing to both the body of a child and their

Show More
Related

  • How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    Immigrants come to America, the revered City upon a Hill, with wide eyes and high hopes, eager to have their every dream and wild reverie fulfilled. Rarely, if ever, is this actually the case. A select few do achieve the stereotypical ‘rags to riches’ transformation – thus perpetuating the myth. The Garcia family from Julia Alvarez’s book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, fall prey to this fairytale. They start off the tale well enough: the girls are treated like royalty, princesses of their Island home, but remained locked in their tower, also known as the walls of their family compound. The family is forced to flee their Dominican Republic paradise – which they affectionately refer to as simply, the Island – trading it instead for the cold, mean streets of American suburbs. After a brief acclimation period, during which the girls realize how much freedom is now available to them, they enthusiastically try to shed their Island roots and become true “American girls.” They throw themselves into the American lifestyle, but there is one slight snag in their plan: they, as a group, are unable to forget their Island heritage and upbringing, despite how hard they try to do so. The story of the Garcia girls is not a fairytale – not of the Disney variety anyway; it is the story of immigrants who do not make the miraculous transition from rags to riches, but from stifling social conventions to unabridged freedom too quickly, leaving them with nothing but confusion and unresolved questions of identity.

    Read More

  • Essay On Quinceanera

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    Envision stepping into the room, seeing your guess smile and talk quietly, the atmosphere of the room glowing, and feeling the warmth grow inside your chest as you know you planned a successful Quinceanera. The day a girl of the hispanic culture turns 15, is the day her fantasies come to life; and she becomes a women. Quinceaneras carry lots of quarks, small details, and ideas; but with these simple steps it can be perfected.

    Read More

  • Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents By Julia Alvarez Essay

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Upon returning to the Dominican Republic after many years, Yolanda decides to take a trip across the island––something her family views as ridiculous. “‘This is not the states’ . . . ‘A woman just doesn’t travel alone in this country.” (9) This quote highlights the sexism inherent in Dominican society. Yolanda’s family is asserting that women are not individuals capable of taking care of themselves. On another hand, Yolanda’s close friendship with Mundín causes tensions as their mothers confront them about crossing gender lines. “My mother disapproved. The outfit would only encourage my playing with Mundín and the boy cousins. It was high time I got over my tomboy phase and started acting like a young lady señorita. ‘But it is for girls,’ . . . ‘boys don’t wear skirts.’” (228) This is an example of how Dominican societal norms and gender roles have impacted the sisters. Yolanda and Mundín were the only boy-girl playmates out of all the García children, yet this was frowned upon by both of their parents as to not impede the seemingly inevitable growth of Yolanda’s femininity, and conversely, Mundín’s masculinity. Moreover, this shows how societally-prescribed gender roles were instilled in Yolanda at a young age. However, this is not the only way in which women’s freedoms are

    Read More

  • Quinceanera

    510 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has been known that when girls, as well as boys reach a certain age they

    Read More

  • The Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez

    2546 Words  | 6 Pages

    Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth chapter, namely the domestic abuse scene, functions as a pivotal point in the Mother Tongue as it helps her to define herself.

    Read More

  • Once Upon A Quinceanera By Julia Alvarez

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    When people are forced to make a choice between keeping their own roots and blending into the mainstream culture, many people tend to assimilate into the mainstream culture. Blending into the mainstream means new opportunities and better lives, but keeping old identities make them get the sense of belonging. There are numerous ways for people to keep their roots. In the essay “Once Upon a Quinceanera”, Julia Alvarez follows the female “coming-of-age” tradition known among Hispanic communities as quinceanera. In the end, she finds in order to give young Latina women a sense of empowerment and individual importance, the tradition must be redefined in a way that reflects and embodies the values and desires of

    Read More

  • Wounds Of The Spirit Summary

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book does not contain the same poetic elements the first half does; it instead uses a more professional business like route. Defining the culture of her society through a political and oratorical manner, the second half of the book creates profound evidence for her identity confusion that results in her feminism. The book takes two elements of life and culture and creates one world from both. It gives both a personal first hand perspective of feminism, as well as a second hand look at feminism through the Chicano/a movement.

    Read More

  • The Latino Culture in America

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).

    Read More

  • The Quinceañera

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.

    Read More

  • First Voices An Aboriginal Women's Reader Summary

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although these stories of women were challenging to read, I found myself often comforted by strong voices. Not only voices of indigenous women, but my grandmother’s voice and the stories long before I was born. Picking up and reading this book threaded me back to who I am and the generations who created

    Read More

  • Julia Alvarez Essay

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many critics praised the author for her sensitive and adept portrait of the struggles is an immigrant family. A critic stated “acute eye for the secret complexities that permeate family life” (Jordan 180). She creates a melodrama filled with gatherings of precious memories. She in turn received negative criticism for her haunting portrayal of Yolanda and her journey of self-discovery from childhood to adolescence into adulthood (Hoffman 1/7). Alvarez manages to bring in important issues such a political reality in democratic republic and the family’s journey of religious and faith stumble and their closely held traditional values. After reading her heartfelt works, many young girls concluded “we feel included….we want more” (Jorden 180). The author incorporates the struggles young individuals faces when challenged with a new language and a homeland. Her works gives many young immigrants the courage to tell their own

    Read More

  • Turning 15 in Julia Alvarez's Book, Once Upon a Quinceañera

    2072 Words  | 5 Pages

    To conclude, this essay has looked at several ways in which the melting pot myth has been represented in Once Upon a Quinceañera by Julia Alvarez. Practicing one’s cultural beliefs is a very noble idea because it keeps ones culture alive and passed down from one generation to the next. This is what Alvarez describes in her book regarding the quinceañera tradition. However, these coming of age celebrations in America have encountered the MTV era where festivities focus more on the extravagance than on the real coming of age Hispanic culture. Quinceañeras have now become corrupted because they teach girls how to behave irresponsibly when they become women. Furthermore, the ritual itself has now become a show off. It is for these reasons that Alvarez fears the future generation will totally deviate from the original intent of holding quinces.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Gender in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is essentially a set of instructions given by an adult, who is assumed to be the mother of the girl, who is laying out the rules of womanhood, in Caribbean society, as expected by the daughter’s gender. These instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The reader may see these instructions as demanding, but these are a mother’s attempt, out of care for the daughter, to help the daughter to grow up properly. The daughter does not appear to have yet reached adolescence, however, her mother believes that her current behavior will lead her to a life of promiscuity. The mother postulates that her daughter can be saved from a life of promiscuity and ruin by having domestic knowledge that would, in turn also, empower her as a productive member in their community and the head of her future household. This is because the mother assumes that a woman’s reputation and respectability predisposes the quality of a woman’s life in the community.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Quincea�era In Spanish Culture

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the most important celebrations in Spanish culture is the tradition of quinceañera. Quinceañera consists of a ceremony that takes place on a girl’s fifteenth birthday to mark her passage to womanhood. Quinceañera is often celebrated to give thanks to god for his blessings, and to present a young woman to the community. (...) .Quinceañera is both similar and different from traditions practiced here in the United States for a number of various reasons.

    Read More

  • Snow, Yolanda by Julia Alvarez

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    Julia Alvarez was an example of how a Latina writer identified herself in a new culture outside of her comfort zone. She, as a Dominican Diaspora, had to reinvent herself as she migrated into a new scenario. Her assimilation into the United States culture allowed her to understand and relate to the reader’s needs and points of interests. After all the effort, Alvarez kept in mind that she could not comfort to all the reality that she lived in, so she re-reinvented herself all over again to process her thoughts and beliefs into her life. She put her perspective on her writing so that the new wave of readers, even if they did not understand, could relate in some way and appreciate the differences. The sole purpose of her writings was for everyone to change their perspective from “walk to the other side of the street in order to avoid sharing the same sidewalk” to “I do not know them, but I do not avoid them because I do not know them”. She instilled in her reader’s mind how ordinary events were viewed differently through other cultures’ eyes. Her story Snow was a great example of how she portrayed her technique.

    Read More

More about An Analysis Of Quinceañera

Open Document