Comparison Of Summer Ritual And The Barrios

The two essays, “Summer Rituals” by Ray Bradbury and “The Barrio” by Robert Ramirez, have both plainly established their differences, as well as similarities.The concept of family can be seen in both writings, yet these families do not consist of the same types of people. Yet another aspect in which these two writers diverged and agreed upon would be the neighbourhoods themselves. Through imagery, the authors presented both neighbourhoods in a lively fashion. However, also through imagery, the authors portrayed the cultural contrasts within the two neighbourhoods.

Though not constricted to one definition, a family creates a sense of closeness. This concept of family encompasses a major part of both pieces of writing. “Summer Rituals” describes

the events that play out within a family during the summer. The whole essay undeniably sets up the feeling of closeness. The adults sit and talk “all evening long” (Summer Rituals) and the “slumbrous voices” weave “the dark together.” (Summer Rituals) Similarly, in “The Barrio” one is presented with many people who are unable to divide from their home. As the writer himself says “The barrio is closeness.” (The Barrio) For the economic situations in the barrio are not the brightest, this helps to add to this idea of closeness. “Economic need creates interdependence and closeness.” (The Barrio) Although we have this concept of family and closeness, the families themselves differ from each other. The family in “Summer Rituals” consists of many individuals who are related to one another. The reader is presented with “Uncle Bert,” “Grandfather,” “Father,” “Grandma,” “Great-grandma,” and “Mother”. On the other hand, in “The Barrio”, we have family units, yet the feeling of family extends beyond these four walls. “From the family unit, familial relationships stretch out to immediate neighbourhoods, down the block, around the corner, and to all parts of the barrio.” (The Barrio) Whether it is closeness between relatives or a whole community, both essays perfectly capture the feeling of closeness that comes with family.
The families present in the two essays bring their liveliness along with them to their neighbourhoods.

Using both imagery and diction, the two authors have built two neighbourhoods full of life. In “Summer Rituals”, the reader encounters a neighbourhood with friendships so closely intertwined, with phonographs playing in the background, with “chairs scraping from tables”, and with “dishes bubbling in the suds” (Summer Rituals). One does not lose any exuberance when switching over to “The Barrio”. Here the neighbourhood has many components that add to its liveliness. “The tortilleria fires up its machinery three times a day,” “The panaderia sends its sweet messenger aroma,” “The color-splashed homes arrest you eyes,”and “The gardens mutely echo the expressive verses of the colorful houses.” Nevertheless, the neighbourhoods also differ in their own ways. As one reads “The Barrio”, one can feel the preservation of history behind its fences. The communities are “isolated from the rest of the town by concrete columned monuments of progress, and yet stranded in the past.”(The Barrio) The barrio is Spanish speaking and historic. These elements are presented through the author’s diction. Ramirez uses multiple Spanish words to define certain shops or places. However, one does not encounter these differences of the neighbourhood from its surrounding when reading “Summer Rituals.” The neighbourhood, with its people and the activities going on inside it, does not stand out to be any different from other

neighbourhoods.
On one hand so similar, yet on the other so apart, these two essays are no doubt magnificent. Through their language, both essays have established their similarities when it comes to family, even though the family members may not be related. The authors have also clearly set a lively mood for both neighbourhoods. Yet, the reader can also sense the cultural differences between each. No matter how different or similar, both are unique pieces of writing that were worth every second of the read.