Judith Ortiz Cofer

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“You can leave [Puerto Rico], master the English language, and travel as far as you can, but if you are a Latina, . . . the island travels with you,” an excerpt from the biographical essay written by Judith Ortiz Cofer is a likeness to her life as a developed, and educated Latin woman facing stereotypes in an Anglo world. By making statement Cofer is referring to her feelings of being unable to escape the stereotypes associated with her Latin heritage. The author continues by relating an island to being more like Alcatraz than a tropical paradise, by making these statements I believe that Cofer wanted us to visualize an Island which is surrounded by water and isolated, and made reference to Alcatraz so that we can acknowledge her feelings

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