For the purpose of this paper, I decided to interview my grandmother. Her name is Ynes Velasquez, she is 69 years old and her story is a very interesting one. She was born in the Dominican Republic as a result of an affair her father had with another women. Her father had a couple of relationships outside of his marriage and she was a product of one of those romances. Unfortunately her biological mother did not wanted her and she was given to another of her father’s women. Ynes stayed with her until she was about 1-year-old. Another one of her father’s lover found out that Ynes was not being treated with the love and care she needed, so the lover asked the father to give the baby to her. As a result, Ynes ended up living with that woman for …show more content…
She specifically said it started when she was entering her 60’s. Her hair started to fall, she had tried several treatments and nothing seemed to work. She also has noticed a lot of grey hairs coming out even faster every time she colors her hair. The information about Ynes hair lost is consistent with what Whitbourne & Whitbourne (2014) suggested as a possible explanation for hair lost during adult ages. They talked about Androgenetic alopecia, which is a condition present typically in men but also in women that causes the hair follicles to stop producing the long, thick, pigmented hair and instead produces short, fine, and unpigmented hair that can hardly be seen (Whitbourne & Whitbourne 2014, …show more content…
She said her migraine’s are really bad, when she has a migraine she has to stay in bed because is so strong she’s unable to go to work. She also said that when she experiences back pains it is hard for her while she is at work because she cannot stay in one position for a long time. She has to be constantly seating down or standing up to deal with the pain. Despite the fact that intensity of the back pains experienced by Ynes are not as severe in comparison to other pains for example, arthritis, they still in someway or another affect the quality of her life. It is suggested that any kind of pain can interfere not only with cognitive performance but also can become a limitation to a person’s daily life routine (Whitbourne & Whitbourne
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.
#1.The thesis in “A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood” by Judith Ortiz Cofer is that because of the stories her grandmother told every afternoon when she was a child, her writing was heavily influenced and she learned what it was like to be a ‘Puerto Rican woman’. The thesis of the selection is stated in the first and last sentence of the second paragraph: “It was on these rockers that my mother, her sisters, and my grandmother sat on these afternoons of my childhood to tell their stories, teaching each other, and my cousin and me, what it was like to be a woman, more specifically, a Puerto Rican woman . . . And they told cuentos, the morality and cautionary tales told by the women in our family for generations: stories that became
The Sanchez Family is a large family that emigrated to the United States of America from Mexico. The family is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and retains their Mexican culture. The family members that this case analysis will focus on are Hector Sanchez and his daughter, Gloria Sanchez. This analysis will provide a review of the family members and how each lens and theory is related to the family member and their presenting concerns.
The Alvarez lived in a compound on a respected neighborhood surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and the grandparents, and were a very well establish family as a result of “benefitting from their support of the people in power” during the revolution against the Haitians (“Julia Alvarez”). In her novel, ...
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
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.
Gabriele,J.P. Of Mothers and Freedom: Adela’s Struggles for Selfhood in La casa de Bernarda Alba. Symposium, Vol 47. No 3. 188-199. 1998
It sometimes is quite difficult to find one’s voice when no one is truly listening or understands. Yolanda, or "Yo", a Dominican immigrant, has grown up to be a writer and in the process infuriates her entire family by publishing the intimate details of their lives as fiction. “¡Yo!” is an exploration of a woman's soul, a meditation on the writing life, as well as a lyrical account of Latino immigrants’ search for identity and a place in the United States. Julia Alvarez divides her novel ¡Yo! into chapters to distinguish the perspectives of each member of the Garcia family. Through the stylistic, subtle homage to the Spanish language as well as speaking on the horrors that occurred during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez showcases storytelling in the first chapter of her novel titled “From ¡Yo! The Mother” to show how Yo and her entire family used it to cope with their struggles as immigrants in America. By telling stories, Yo’s mother Laura, battles between her Dominican and American identities to ultimately redefine not only who she is, but also who she and her family will be.
I chose to do my interview on my aunt Rosa Emilia Molina. I chose my aunt because she is someone that i always talk to and look up to. I had never really heard of her past or how it was when she grew up. My aunt was born in Choluteca, Honduras on June 8, 1949. Although my aunt is not from Europe or the United States there was still plenty going on in Honduras. She was an ordinary person in extraordinary times because of her education, work, and home.
The second family that I interviewed was the Lyles family. Both Bro. Scotty, the father, and Mrs. Yolanda, the mother, participated in the interview and three of their children were in the room. Bro. Scotty was born and raised in Alba, Texas on the very same tree farm that he owns and operates today; he is also a deacon at our church. However, Mrs. Yolanda was born and raised in Guatemala. As a child she was raised Catholic, and is part of a large and growing family. She is one of eight children. Their family as well as anybody else in that culture celebrated their daughter’s 15th birthday with a Quinceañera which marked the transition from childhood to young womanhood. This was traditionally the first time the girls would wear make-up, nice
Many reviews have been written on Julia Alvarez since she is a Dominican Diaspora, a Jew who lived outside of Israel, who wrote in a Latina perspective in the country of Uni...
This brief study involved the participation of 3 subjects between 69-74 years of age, from two different ethnic groups: Whites and Hispanics. Participants were a Hispanic woman (HW) 71 years old (divorced and then widowed), a Hispanic man (HM) age 74 (divorced), and a White man (WM) 69 years of age (divorced and recently widowed). Due to Alzheimer’s, for the interview with WM participant I required the assistance of his son (40 years old) for corroboration of obtained facts. Subjects did not receive any compensation for their participation. In-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted to gather the information.
In the early 1940’s Marie was born into a small tight knit family living in a small rural Kentucky town. Marie is now in her seventies and has led a very interesting life traveling the country, raising four children, and shaping her chosen profession. Our interview sessions were conducted over a period of time, as Marie is very active and has little “free time” to spare.
Catholicism glorifies and represents mothers as the main foundation of the family through the example of the passive and unconditional loving Mary, the mother of Jesus Crist. This idea of the mother as unconditional lover 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 the mothers being 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. Given that these author’s life experiences can be
This lady is the most wonderful person I 've ever met. She is old, affectionate, and intelligent. It took me eighteen years to realize how much this extraordinary person influenced my life. She 's the type of person who charms everyone with her stories and experiences. She always time for her family and friends. She is the kind of leader who does everything to keep her family together and in harmony. She is my grandmother.