History is filled with daring, intrepid writes who are acclaimed as initiators who launched a new literary period. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American writer who is recognized as a progenitor, she weaves passionate sensibilities through her works. Alvarez is the initiator of latina literature in United States due to her tough background, the deep insights she provides into the daily struggles of an immigrant family and the chord she has struck within in the critics and on a diverse range of culturally unique individuals.
Julia Alvarez writes exceptional novels by pulling together her Dominican roots and her personal experiences as a young women growing up in the United States. Alvarez was welcomed into the world 1950 on March 27 in the
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United States. She spend her formative years in the streets of Dominican Republic, dreaming of the fantasyland that is America. Growing up, Alvarez's first love was storytelling. Her grandfather supported her interests in creative fiction and she attributes her interests in storytelling to the traditions of Dominican Republic (Jordan 184). At the age of 10, she was forced back to her birth place when “Her father was involved in the underground against dictator Rafael Trujillo” (Jordan 182). Her family fled to the United States in hopes of finding solace and freedom. Alvarez attend a boarding school with her sisters upon their return to New York (Benson). She was fortunate enough to make many wonderful people of diverse ethnicities, religions and background. She stepped into the world of literature through poetry. “She won a poetry prize from the Academy of American Poetry in 1974” (Benson). Her remarkable poetic prowess honed her language skills and her reputation as a writer grew. In many of Alvares's novels and stories, she explore the struggles of an immigrant family with assimilation and the resulting clash between two cultures. Her characters strives out for the unknown and in the journey a new self emerges (Lawrence). In “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents” Alvarez portrays the life of three teenage girls intoxicated by the new unlimited possibilities of a life in the United States. At the age of sixty-seven, she lives in a secluded ranch house with her husband, who is an ophthalmologist (Martinez 5/7). She recities her work oh her own turf with butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Alvarez continues her writing and has gained many loyal readers who waits eagerly to hear her voice inflected by a faint latin twang. Alvarez's novel place immigration and identity all in the context of family relations by seeing a life through other’s eyes. This Dominican-American writer received a large amount of critical acclaim for her discerning portraits of young immigrants struggling to remake their lives.
Many critics praised the author for her sensitive and adept portrait of the struggles is an immigrant family. A critic stated “acute eye for the secret complexities that permeate family life” (Jordan 180). She creates a melodrama filled with gatherings of precious memories. She in turn received negative criticism for her haunting portrayal of Yolanda and her journey of self-discovery from childhood to adolescence into adulthood (Hoffman 1/7). Alvarez manages to bring in important issues such a political reality in democratic republic and the family’s journey of religious and faith stumble and their closely held traditional values. After reading her heartfelt works, many young girls concluded “we feel included….we want more” (Jorden 180). The author incorporates the struggles young individuals faces when challenged with a new language and a homeland. Her works gives many young immigrants the courage to tell their own …show more content…
story. Many reviews praises Alvarez’s works for its construction from multiple viewpoints, raining freely from sassy gossip to animated autobiography but always with a political undercurrent. The Garcia Girls has a huge impact in many people’s lives “while imperfect and at times unbalances” (Jordan 186). The book and the author has become a beacon for many young minds whose stories remain untold. Some readers like, Elizabeth Starcevic determined the book “uneven” and the narrative structure made it confusing (Jordan 180). They find the reverse chronological order of the narrative takes away a sense of self and a personality to the story. By choosing to write in chronological order the story allowed the readers to build a trust with the author. Many considers Julia Alvarez an important addition to the canon of Hispanic writers in the U.S. She helped the American people understand the real struggles of being an immigrant and the pressures of having to hold onto your roots. Julia Alvarez is considered one of the initiators of latina literature in the United States.
She played a major role in bringing latina literature to the us audiences. She used her art, her writing as a way to influence young writers to come forward with their own stories. She gives a platform to “link nationally specific codes of class and gender performance to bilingualism” (Laurence) allowing many to share experiences on the homefront and hear a rare story. Alvarez gives many Hispanic Americans a sense of belonging, urging many readers to understand the struggles of a working class family with eager ears and yearning hearts. She confessed her loyalty by choosing to write for an english speaking audiences (Jordan 186). Alvarez influences many to comprehend the power of writing to influence the world. Through her writing of heritage and alienation Alvarez helps solidify a sense of belonging for many Dominican
girls. Julia Alvarez beautifully captures the threshold experiences of an immigrant and the profound bond between family. She is one of the greatest writers of American history because she is able to express the traditional values of a family, evoke pain and empathy in critics, and create a positive impact on numerous people from different backgrounds. She will forever be remembered as a woman of latina heritage who launched an era of magical realism. This ubiquitous Dominican-American writer portrays the sentimental voyage of the neverending touch of family and culture.
Sandra Benitez was born in Washington D.C. on March 26, 1941. Her birth name is Sandy Ables, she had lived her childhood in Mexico and El Salvador where her father served as a diplomat. When Benitez was a teenager she was sent to live with her grandparents up north where she had become “Americanized”. In 1979 she had left her job and had began to attend a creative writing course. “Her first novel, a murder mystery set in Missouri, was never published. She brought the novel to a writer’s conference, where she was told it was terrible”. (Benitez, Sandra Benitez) This had led her to change her name to Sandra Benitez and focus on writing on her Latina heritage. In 1993 Benitez had published her first novel, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, receiving the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award.
Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, novelist and essayist who born in New York USA in 1950. Alvarez works is a representation of her experience as a Dominican in United States. Even more is a reflection of her issues of assimilation to a new culture and internal battle for achieve her own identity. One example of this conflict is her successful poem Dusting. Here she use deferent metaphors to brought her contraction as a new generation with the old generation represent hear by her mother.
Sandra Benitez, birth name Sandy Ables, was born in Washington D.C. March 26, 1941. Due to her father’s job as a diplomat, she lived most of her childhood in Mexico and El Salvador. During Benitez teenage years, she lived with her family in the United States where she assimilated into American culture. In 1979 she decided to leave her job and began to attend a creative writing class. “Her first novel, a murder mystery set in Missouri, was never published. She brought the novel to a writer’s conference, where she was told it was terrible”. (“About”, Benitez) This led her to become the person she is now and focus on writing of her Latina heritage. In 1993 Benitez had published her first novel, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, where she received the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award.
Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer whose collection of short stories Drown tells the story of immigrant families in the urban community of New Jersey. His short story “Fiesta, 1980” focuses on Yunior, an adolescent boy from Dominican Republic and his relationship with his father. On the other hand, Piri Thomas was a great Latino writer from Puerto-Rico whose memoir Down These Mean Streets tells his life story as an adolescent residing in Harlem and the challenges he faces outside in the neighborhood and at home with his father. Both Diaz and Thomas in different ways explore the dynamics of father-son relationships in their work. Furthermore, both expose masculinity as a social construct.
Yolanda’s upbringing was strictly Catholic and Dominican, and to be suddenly thrust into a new world with new cultures and beliefs leaves Yolanda confused. For the most part, Yolanda cherishes her culture and religion. But when surrounded by Americans who do things differently than her, and feel confident in the way they do things, Yolanda wishes she could be like them: “For the hundredth time, I cursed my immigrant origins. If only I too had been born in Connecticut or Virginia, I too would understand the jokes everyone was making” (Alvarez 94). Yolanda wants to be an American and to understand their ways. Being different from everyone takes a toll on Yolanda’s sense of identity. She is riddled with conflict between who she is and who she wishes she could be. She sees herself as being worse or worth less than the Americans, and has to face this on an everyday
Oftentimes, societal problems span across space and time. This is certainly evident in Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents a novel in which women are treated peripherally in two starkly different societies. Contextually, both the Dominican Republic and the United States are very dissimilar countries in terms of culture, economic development, and governmental structure. These factors contribute to the manner in which each society treats women. The García girls’ movement between countries helps display these societal distinctions. Ultimately, women are marginalized in both Dominican and American societies. In the Dominican Republic, women are treated as inferior and have limited freedoms whereas in the United States, immigrant
The autobiography Journey of Hope Memoirs of a Mexican Girl and the documentary short “Children in No Man’s Land” has brought into light three important topics that are results of immigration. The first is the “American dream” and the notion of yearning to migrate abroad to seek dreams formed by misconceptions of the limited knowledge one has of their destination. The second is assimilation and the process of assimilating oneself to their new homeland. The third is a unique situation presented in both these works, which is estrangement from their family members. This paper attempts to critically analyze the unique journey of immigration for Rosalina, Maria de Jesus, and Rene. It argues that glorified images and dreams of what America could be like falsely creates a sense of hope. It focuses on the dual task of reviewing the process of assimilation based on each immigrant situation, and an examination of familial estrangement as
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
interesting conversation because there were a lot similarities in adjusting to living in the United States . This book shows a viewpoint of the sisters coming to America . I classify this as American literature because the book was written in a style that would make it easy to read for a people to read here . There is mixed language , and there is really no strong presence of Spanish being spoken . Alvarez is a interesting writer because she uses writing as a tool to find out what she is thinking , and to understand things ,while developing books that are fun to read . If you take this book for example , it’s what she thinks about immigration and her understanding of the subject . This book was made for everyone to see what the immigration experience is like . Immigration appears to be an experience of struggle , and change shared by immigrants no matter what the origin .
The popular revolutionary poem “I am Joaquin” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales influenced many Chicana/os to embrace their heritage in the Chicano Movement in the 1960s. The poem created psychological work for the Chicano identity. Moreover, this poem developed and promoted social consciousness, commitment to activism, and cultural pride for many Chicanos. However, Gonzales primarily focuses on the identity and struggles of a Mexican-American male which excludes other narratives. Thus, the lack of inclusivity influenced me to recreate the popular poem, which centers on women from Central America who are rarely acknowledged in Chicano Studies. Therefore, our poem “I am Dolores” is focused on these three main themes: empowerment of women of color, resistance
...community, equal rights and the right to follow your roots) with the central focus of the poem. As Susan Bassnett states in her essay Bilingual Poetry: A Chicano Phenomenon , there is a “Latin American tradition of the poet who occupies a prominent place in the struggle for freedom and national unity”, and as Cervantes and Gonzales demonstrated, the poet’s role in Latin America has not been diminished.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
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...
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.