Julia Alvarez is most well known for her realistic poetry. The majority of her poems are true stories, or events that encouraged her to write poems. For example, “How I Learned to Sweep” was written to describe a time her mother told her to sweep a dirty floor. Julia Alvarez has a tough life with her constant moving and detrimental environment of being a citizen in a dictator ruled country. Julia Alvarez is known for her realistic poetry in “How I Learned to Sweep,” by the way she connects her daily chores, such as sweeping the floor, to the daily chores of an American soldier to show her gratefulness.
Julia Alvarez was born on March 27, 1950, in New York, New York, yet she spent her early years in the Dominican Republic. While living in
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the Dominican Republic, her family was apart of a plot to overthrow the dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina. This specific man is known for his cruel dictatorship. Rafael is involved with murderings and unusual taxes during his early years of dictatorship. Biography.com states, “Trujillo continued to use his power for personal profit. He took total control of all major industries and financial institutions”(A&E). Rafael would do anything to gain more control and Julia’s family got tired of living under him so they fled from the Dominican Republic. When they arrived in the United States Alvarez decided to go to college to do what she loves, to write. Notablebiographies.com states, “In 1971 she earned her undergraduate degree at Middlebury College in Vermont, and in 1975 she went on to receive her master's degree in creative writing at Syracuse University. She became an English professor at Middlebury College and published several collections of poetry”(Notablebiographies.com). This is where Alvarez learned her love for writing, after leaving the Dominican Republic and coming to the United States where she learned to write poetry. The poem “How I Learned to Sweep” is about Julia Alvarez and her mother at their home in the United States.
At the beginning of the poem, the mom hands her daughter a broom and explains to her that she must perform the daily chore of sweeping the floor. Halfway through the poem, Alvarez realizes that the President comes on the television to talk about the war that is happening. After watching the soldiers go through the daily struggles of being a soldier such as jumping out of planes, battling with opposing countries, and living in a jungle, Alvarez realized how lucky she truly was, she realized that her daily chores were nothing compared to the trials some people face. Alvarez says, “I got up and swept again as they fell out of the sky. I swept harder when I watched a dozen of them die⎼ as if their dust fell through the screen upon the floor I had just cleaned”(26-31). Alvarez realized after watching the clip of the war that her daily chore of sweeping the floor is nothing compared to the soldiers. She felt ungrateful after watching the clip so she ended up sweeping more, sweeping until there wasn't a drop of dust on the floor. The poem ends with her mom saying, “That’s beautiful, she said, impressed, she hadn’t found a speck of death.” Referring to her mother’s approval of the chore she given to her
daughter. Alvarez wrote this poem to illustrate how she took her freedom for granted. After living in a dictatorship, she forgot to be grateful for all the soldiers that fight everyday for the safety of the United States. She was raised in a way that is unlike most: being controlled by one person and having to do everything that he or she says. This is something that she is ungrateful for. She wanted to leave and never return, and that is exactly what she did. Then when she got to the United States she forgot to stop and look, to see exactly how grateful she truly is. It took an experience with a clip of the war to realize that her daily chores are something that can be done in minutes while there are soldiers fighting for her life everyday. This is how she connects her gratefulness to the American soldiers and her daily chore of sweeping. Julia Alvarez is an influential poet who is known for her realistic poetry. She connects life events in “How I Learned to Sweep” to being grateful for living in a free country protected by American soldiers. She shows her gratitude in “How I Learned to Sweep” by showing that she will do her chores longer and harder in order to show her mother how lucky she is. Alvarez wants to illustrate how grateful she is by showing her mother that she will go the extra mile to show her appreciation for everything. “How I Learned to Sweep” is a poem that expresses Alvarez’s feelings and appreciation for her country and for all the soldiers that are fighting to keep her safe.
This is evident through the symbolism of the ears at the end of the poem. Once he rudely tells the speaker that he will not help her people at all, the speaker tells us that “some of the ears on the floor caught this scrap of his voice. Some of the ears on the floor were pressed to the ground.” The ears are divided into two different types: the ones that hear the colonel and the ones that do not. All of the ears are said to be on the floor because they represent the people in the worst living conditions who are living below everyone else. Each of these types also represents a portion of the struggling population when a problem arises. Some of the population hears what is going on and reacts to the issue, and the rest of the population turns away and ignores the problem. Furthermore, it is evident that the speaker wants us to speak out because she is doing it herself. The poem begins with “what you have heard is true” because the speaker wants her audience to know that the rumor that brewed from her story is true. The poem then goes into detail about what happened, and the speaker wants us to be disgusted by what has happened so that we act to help her. The speaker wants us to be the ears that hear her. The poem is a call to action for all of the people in El Salvador in that time
The poem Dusting is about a young girl who used to imprint her name in a dusting furniture in her house that finally will be wiped by her mother. Alvarez has the desire to accomplish different thing in her life.
Selena Quintanilla Perez was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas. Selena grew up understanding Spanish, but English was her first language. At the age of five Selena saw her brother learning to play the guitar and became jealous of the attention he was getting. She picked up a songbook and began to sing. Her family quickly turned their attention to her strong and beautiful voice. In the first grade Selena excelled at a game called Jump the Brook, in which two ropes are placed side by side and each kid takes a turn jumping across.1 In middle school Selena was in honors classes and made A’s and B’s. Selena used her allowance to put clothes on layaway. As a teenager, Selena hung all of her awards on the wall next to the staircase in her family’s house. As an adult, Selena was very involved with kids. She was a spokeswoman for the D.A.R.E. Program.
The narrator who saw the woman cleaning in the airport did not like the scene due to the fact that she believes that there are better jobs and options out there. However, we do not know whether or not the lady actually cleaning feels the same way. Oliver states in the poem, “Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together, and neither could win”. (Line 13). Even though this situation seems to be very sad Oliver tries to turn a sad situation into a hopeful and joyful situation. The speaker sees how the woman is struggling, but she thinks she is beautiful. Furthermore, the perspective of the speaker shows that the cleaning woman has a right to “stand in a happy place”, which means everyone deserves a good job. Oliver mentions, “Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem, but first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor, which is dull enough” (line 16). This quote shows that the narrator dislikes the fact that she is doing such a low job and yet she thinks she is beautiful. The author did not understand her perspective, she has to do this job for a
Hilma Contreras was born in San Francisco de Marcoris on December 8, 1913 to parents Dario Contreras and Juana Maria Castillo. Her father, Dr. Dario Contreras maintained a legacy of his own. He was the first Dominican surgeon to specialize in orthopedics. Throughout his life,
To start with, Rosie Perez or Rosa Marie Perez was born on September 6, 1964 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. She is a actress, dancer, choreographer, director, and community activist. Her parents are Lydia Perez, a singer and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine seaman. Her aunt had been raising and catering her until her mother, Lydia Perez took her away and put her in Foster Care when she was 3. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if Rosie was to detest her parents after all they put her through. Rosie stayed there until she moved in with another aunt when she was 12. Later on she joined a high school in Rightwood, Grover Cleveland High School. Now most of the confusion and sadness had culminate.
Claudia Jones was born in 1915 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. In 1924, she migrated with her family to Harlem, New York. Living in Harlem, she had a rough
One poetic device that is prevalent throughout the entirety of poem is mood. Mood can be described as the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader. One general mood in the poem is depression. With the title of the poem being War Widow it is very easy to see that depression is one general mood in the writing. Another line in the poem says “The telephone never rings. Still you pick it up, smile into the static”(Abani l). This could mean that this person is alone and has no one left to talk to or it can also mean that someone he loved was taken away from him and he has been deeply affected by the loss. These lines have depression in the background of the context. This poem is very deep in the
In the beginning, Blanco descriptively writes how the sun rises every morning over our rooftops as it enters our windows. He goes on to describe the movements behind the windows, which I believe are our shadows. Blanco goes through the routine of Americans when they wake up: they yawn, look in the mirror, and hear the sound of automobiles outside. Blanco moves from general to personal. He makes the poem personal and involves his mother who worked as a cashier for 20 years, so that he can be able to get an education and “write this poem” (7).
As a journalist in 1920 for the New York Herald Tribune, Sophie Treadwell was assigned to go to Mexico to follow the situation after the Mexican Revolution. (Mexican Revolution 1910-1917) She covered many important aspects of the Mexican Revolution during this time, including relations between the U.S. and Mexico. She was even permitted an interview with Pancho Villa in August 1921 at his headquarters. This interview and other events that she experienced in Mexico are presumably what led her to write the play Gringo. In Gringo Treadwell tries to depict the stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes that Mexicans and Americans have about each other. There is a demonstration of how Mexican women are looked at in the Mexican culture and how they see themselves. The play also corresponds to similar events that occurred during the Mexican Revolution.
Julia Alvarez originated from a Dominican American background, from which she used her experiences as an immigrant to write novels and short stories. In addition, Alvarez wrote about her experiences from the Dominican Republic and the United States, which provided her with over twenty works of literature. By writing over twenty literature works, Alvarez established herself as an inspiration and a contribution to American Literature. In short, Alvarez used her Dominican American background and experiences to write her books that all dedicated to the Latina voice in American Literature.
Alvarez was born in New York and then moved to the Dominican Republic shortly after she was born . Later in 1960 , she immigrated back to New York and received her education in boarding schools . She has spent a majority of her life in the United States , and considers herself to be an American , yet she likes to bridge the two worlds of Latina and American culture . Most of her stories have hints of her Dominican roots but she show’s her experiences with human insight . Even though her
She was born in Bronx, New York in 1964. She was born poor and raised on welfare for a couple of years. Around the age of 10 she moved to Englewood, New Jersey. When she was in college she travel a lot. She visited England, France, Spain, and Russia.
Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York on July 24, 1970. She was born in the United States to Puerto Rican Parents, Jennifer considers herself to be a Puerto Rican and she is very proud of her Hispanic heritage and culture. Her father is David Lopez, a computer specialist, and her mother Guadalupe Lopez, a Kindergarten teacher. Her parents recognized Jennifer’s talent and enthusiasm for performing and at the age of five the enrolled her in dance classes. Her mother said “Jennifer always loved to sing, but she was also a great actress and knew that she would have a bright future ahead of her.” With the support of her parents Jennifer grew up to be a very sensible girl, who is still very close to her family. When Jennifer earned her million-dollar paycheck for playing the role in the movie Selena, she bought her mom a Cadillac. Even though they saw Jennifer’s talent at the age of five, their relationship was not always understandable. Jennifer made a major decision and that was not to go to College. That decision was very disappointing to her parents who wanted her to go to law school. Her parents supported her pursuit of a career in show business, they did not wanted to be in the expense of her education. When Jennifer told her parents that she was not going to College and law school, they thought it was really stupid to go off and try to be a movie star.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her