In the story, “An Hour With Abuelo” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Arturo goes to visit his Abuelo and throughout the story realizes that he shouldn’t be so quick to judge the people that care about him because you might find them to be worth your time. This story teaches its readers that you should cherish the time you have with the people that love you. Arturo thinks to himself, “I want my mother to have to wait a little. I don’t want her to think that I’m in a hurry or anything.” (Cofer, 140) This quote proves that he realizes he has a lot in common with his Abuelo and ended up enjoying the time he had with him. Throughout the story Arturo and Abuelo realize all the things they have in common with each other. This idea brings the readers back to the thought that it is never too late to make a connection and enjoy the time you have with the people who love you. …show more content…
In the poem, “Grandma Ling” by Amy Ling, the poet and her grandmother are separated by lots of things.
They let the things that can separate them bring them closer to each other. This poem teaches its readers that love takes sacrifice. Towards the ending on the poem the poet expresses what she is feeling, “She smiled, stretched her arms to take to heart the eldest daughter of her youngest son a quarter century away.” (Ling, 142) The quote shows that the poet traveled halfway around the world to meet her grandmother that she couldn’t communicate with.To sum up the poem, “Grandma Ling,” both the poet and the grandmother take huge sacrifices to see each other. The whole poem represents that love takes
sacrifice. The theme of both the poem and the story are similar in many ways. However one thing sticks out the most. Sacrifice plays a huge role in the poem. Grandma Ling’s granddaughter makes the sacrifice to travel halfway around the world to see her even though she knows they can’t speak the same language. But, in the story, Arturo doesn’t even consider making a sacrifice for his Abuelo. As the story goes on both Arturo and Abuelo realize that it takes sacrifice to really love and know each other to the full extent. Abuelo expresses, “‘Arturo, look at your watch now. I believe your time is over.’ He gives me a wicked smile.”(Cofer, 140) This shows that after the hour Abuelo and Arturo spent together they now know to fully get to know each other it will take sacrifice to make time to be with each other. In the poem, the poet said, “I waited twenty years, then sailed back, half way around the world.”(Ling, 141) The readers are portrayed by the word sailed. We don’t know whether this is literal or not, but it tells us that she made a huge sacrifice just to be able to see and spend time with her grandmother. Both themes in “An Hour With Abuelo” and “Grandma Ling” both relate by sacrifice and showing love for family.
Catholicism glorifies and portrays mothers as the main foundation of the family through the example of the passive and unconditional loving Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. This idea of mothers as unconditional loving beings has been passed on and reproduced in the Chicana/o community. Gil Cuadros and Reyna Grande, through their autobiographical work, testify against this predominate idea of mothers being always caring and loving persons. Even though most mothers fall into the norm of a normal mother, normality is subjective; therefore Cuadros and Grande’s work represent the complexities of reality. Grande’s The Distance Between Us and Cuadro’s City of God are autobiographical narratives that incorporate reality as a form of testimonial of existence, an act of healing and resilience.
The poem explains her hardships. Reading poetry is different from reading prose because you really have to dig deeper and study harder. A poem is not always straight forward like many other writings. You have to use context clues and understand imagery, tone, and sense. Summarizing a poem becomes difficult if you do not re-read several times. I learned that figurative language and lifestyle really tells a great story. Language especially helps you understand what is going on between the lines. Overall, family is always there at the end of the day. Sometimes situations get tough, but there is always a light at the end of the
When writing poetry, there are many descriptive methods an author may employ to communicate an idea or concept to their audience. One of the more effective methods that authors often use is linking devices, such as metaphors and similes. Throughout “The Elder Sister,” Olds uses linking devices effectively in many ways. An effective image Olds uses is that of “the pressure of Mother’s muscles on her brain,” (5) providing a link to the mother’s expectations for her children. She also uses images of water and fluidity to demonstrate the natural progression of a child into womanhood. Another image is that of the speaker’s elder sister as a metaphorical shield, the one who protected her from the mental strain inflicted by their mother.
Both poems represent the despairs and failures of the love they hone for their beloved, with brings a touch of sadness to the poems. From this the reader can feel almost sympathetic to the unrequited lovers, and gain an understanding of the perils and repercussions of love.
Imagine being a young girl dreaming of becoming a woman and flying like a super hero over your neighborhood, seeing everything that happens at night. Then, you wake up to realize you are still a young girl sleeping in your room with white “princess” furniture. This is part of the narrator’s dream in the story “Volar” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, but what exactly does this dream mean? Many details can be interpreted by analyzing the character and theme, both by using the reader response approach and the psychological approach made, mostly developed by Sigmond Freud’s theories.
In romantic words, the poet expresses how much she does think of love. She state it clear that she will not trade love for peace in times of anguish.
This darkly satiric poem is about cultural imperialism. Dawe uses an extended metaphor: the mother is America and the child represents a younger, developing nation, which is slowly being imbued with American value systems. The figure of a mother becomes synonymous with the United States. Even this most basic of human relationships has been perverted by the consumer culture. The poem begins with the seemingly positive statement of fact 'She loves him ...’. The punctuation however creates a feeling of unease, that all is not as it seems, that there is a subtext that qualifies this apparently natural emotional attachment. From the outset it is established that the child has no real choice, that he must accept the 'beneficence of that motherhood', that the nature of relationships will always be one where the more powerful figure exerts control over the less developed, weaker being. The verb 'beamed' suggests powerful sunlight, the emotional power of the dominant person: the mother. The stanza concludes with a rhetorical question, as if undeniably the child must accept the mother's gift of love. Dawe then moves on to examine the nature of that form of maternal love. The second stanza deals with the way that the mother comforts the child, 'Shoosh ... shoosh ... whenever a vague passing spasm of loss troubles him'. The alliterative description of her 'fat friendly features' suggests comfort and warmth. In this world pain is repressed, real emotion pacified, in order to maintain the illusion that the world is perfect. One must not question the wisdom of the omnipotent mother figure. The phrase 'She loves him...' is repeated. This action of loving is seen as protecting, insulating the child. In much the same way our consumer cultur...
I have elected to analyze seven poems spoken by a child to its parent. Despite a wide variety of sentiments, all share one theme: the deep and complicated love between child and parent.
Both poets want to be loved in the poems in their own way. While both poem’s present a theme of love, it is obvious that the poet’s view on love changes from how they view love at the beginning of the poem from how they see it at the end.
The story "An Hour with Abuelo" by Judith Ortiz Cofer explains how You can reach your goal if you believe in yourself. The text states "'I always wanted to be a writer and a teacher, with my heart and soul I knew that i wanted to be around books all my life." (Ortiz Cofer pg.594). Furthermore the text states "And so against the wishes of my father, who wanted all his sons to help him on the land, she sent me to high school in Mayagüez." (Ortiz Cofer pg.594). Both pieces of textual evidence suggest that despite his father not wanting him to go, abuelo and his mother wanted abuelo to go follow his goals and become a teacher. The text also states " You had to get a college degree to teach school, even the lower grades." (Ortiz Cofer pg.594). Furthermore
The effects of love and sacrifice on one’s life can be shown through the character of Lucie Manette in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The way Lucie applies warmth to her friends and family and sacrifices for them has a greater impact than anything else could possibly do. In fact, loving gestures have the power to do anything. They can brighten moods and ameliorate one’s day. Overall, Love is a powerful feeling. It can be defined in many ways, but is always an important emotion to have. Without it, humans are empty. It is a necessary part of living; with it, anything is possible.
Nikki Giovanni and Linda Hogan both wrote poems in the 1970s about their grandmothers that seem totally different to the unaware reader. In actuality, they are very similar. These two poems, Legacies and Heritage, express the poet’s value of knowledge passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, from generation to generation. Even though the poems are composed and read very differently, the underlying message conveyed is the same, and each are valid first-hand accounts of legacies and heritages.
... be casting stones, or holding a conversation. The speaker of the poem does not move on from this emotional torment, yet I do feel as if in his quest for closure he does resolve some of the tumultuous feelings he does have in regard to losing his love.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
Everyone has been hurt by loves sweet embrace. The memories that are left behind can haunt us everyday. The music, dreams, smells, a name, or a rose can strike up memories of ones love lost. But when love leaves you alone, the memories and the ghosts of love are never gone. There is always something to trigger thoughs memories bad or good. Something that needs to be known about the poem is that it was written impromptu in a visiting card.