In the story "Like Mexicans", Gary Soto explains how his grandmother was an influence in his life. She would always give him advice; both good and bad. One of her good advice was that he should marry a woman of a certain race. Soto 's grandmother raised him believing his future wife should be Mexican. She gave him reasons why a Mexican girl would make a great wife. His mother agrees and supports the idea. For years, he was in search of his brown girl. He was infatuated with the idea of finally finding a nice Mexican girl. Later he realizes that his mother wanted him to marry someone of his own social class--a poor girl. But surprisingly, he doesn’t marry a Mexican girl. He married a Japanese girl. He was in love with her. But after seeing his mother and grandmother worry about his decision, he starts …show more content…
He asks his brother and best friend if he should marry a brown girl. He starts overthinking. He is nervous to meet Carolyn 's family. He 's afraid they might not have things in common since they are not the same race. After spending time with her family, Soto is relieved and comes to realize that Carolyn 's family are like Mexicans, only different (Soto 575-578).
While he was growing up, Soto 's most important ideas about girls and marriage were that she had to know how to cook, act like a woman, and had to be Mexican. For starters, Soto notes, "but I would never marry an Okie" (576). His grandmother really influenced him on believing he should not marry a woman if she wasn’t Mexican. His mind was set on the idea that he will live his life with a Mexican wife. He was not open-minded
Becoming Mexican- American has been such a great book so far! I truly favored how Sanchez focused on factors that contributed to the migration of so many across the border north to the United States during the first many years of the twentieth century. During that time, immigrants experienced groups of people trying to Americanize and Mexicanize them and their people. This is a fascinating topic, and Sanchez pulls it off really well. It makes it better because Sanchez is Mexican-American himself, the son of Mexican immigrants, and his sensitivity to the nuances of the culture are very apparent throughout the book. It is the story of the creation of the Mexican-American culture, specifically in the early 1900's in Los Angeles. In addition, also in Los Angeles, Majority of the immigrants would experience the efforts to Americanize them, which was then proceeded by counter attempts to mechanize the immigrants to maintain their loyalty and to return to Mexico. This back and forth contribution developed a Mexican American identity, which was evident in food, and clothes. For example, it was particularly evident in the
‘A Fabricated Mexican’ is a novel by Ricky Rivera in which he chronicles his life as he grows from a child farm worker to a Ph.D. candidate. He takes us through his journey in his search for his personal identity. In the book we find that his journey has not been an easy one. This difficult journey is due to many factors, most importantly the people who have surrounded him during this journey.
In the essay, Mr. Soto spends a good part of the paper thinking whether he should continue his relationship with his new Japanese girlfriend. An example of his struggle was a conversation between Mr.Soto and his mother, “ But the more I talked, the more concerned she became. Was it a mistake? ‘Marry a Mexican girl.’ I heard my mother in my mind” (pp. 220). All Mr.Soto doubt about his relationship stems from the beliefs of his family. He was raised with the notions that a Mexican wife was the best and only option for him. It was only through visiting her family, his inner qualms were calmed: “ On the highway, I felt happy, pleased by it all. I patted Carolyn’s thigh. Her people were like Mexicans, only difference” (pp 222). From the experiences of meeting people he properly never would 've met, Mr.Soto found that race has no bounds, one
This book by Otis A. Singletary deals with different aspects of the Mexican war. It is a compelling description and concise history of the first successful offensive war in United States military history. The work examines two countries that were unprepared for war. The political intrigues and quarrels in appointing the military commanders, as well as the military operations of the war, are presented and analyzed in detail. The author also analyzes the role that the Mexican War played in bringing on the U.S. Civil War.
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
In “Like Mexican” Gary Soto’s grandmother uses her wisdom and an advising tone in order to encourage Gary to marry a Mexican girl who is financially poor and is like a “house-wife.” A traditional family such as this author’s shares an outlook how marriage is significant and culturally supervised by the parent or the grandparents. The grandmother looks toward a homogamy for Gary’s marriage. The grandmother’s conversational style is most defined throughout “Like Mexican” since it began with the grandmother’s advices and throughout the essay Gary was yet again spoken by his grandmother. The repetition of the thought constantly wraps around Gary’s mind. In contrast, the essay “Gender in the Classroom” strikingly separates the male and female student’s own conversation styles. From Deborah Tannen, males are likely to speak up to show their “contribution” and to “express themselves on the floor.” Also, male students tend to find the “public classroom setting more conducive to speaking” in a large group. (Tannen pg. 285). However, in “Like Mexican” as the audience, we were not introduced with many of Soto’s male friends or a male gathering in order for Soto to express his thoughts and feelings. In another opposition in “Gender in the Classroom” “most women are more comfortable speaking in private to a small group they know well.” (Tannen 285). In other words, female
Wanting to achieve a sense of fullness is arguably a goal that many, if not everyone, has. To live a life with meaning and transcendence is to live a life worth living; it is to have something that makes you see the beauty in the world and it is to have daily motivation. The Latinx community is a community that embodies this desire of having a meaningful life, and it is mostly evident in the community’s working class. As anthropological studies arise, scholars have also noticed this strong desire. However, they say that working class Latinxs ' longing of fullness stems off form the oppression and “trauma” that they have undergone. In other words, that desire is simply an outlet to escape from tension caused by unprecedented shifts in the lives
People are discriminated against because of their race and social position every day. This has been going on for hundreds of years. In Mexican White Boy, Danny and Uno were discriminated against by people around them for being different, but along the way of discovering themselves, they form an unbreakable friendship.
In the article “The Latino Education Crisis” by Patricia Gandara who talked about how the rate of Latinos that are educated and graduates from school are so low and how they have low income because most of their parents are not educated and he also stated some solutions that can help like starting an early childhood education to help the student to have more educational interest and so many more. I agree with the author that Latino are facing allot of educational crisis because most of them are less educated, they have less income in their families because parents don’t have enough money to send their children to schools and because the parents lack education. I believe that there are solutions like focusing on early education
To understand fully the implicit meaning and cultural challenges the film presents, a general knowledge of the film’s contents must be presented. The protagonist, Tita, suffers from typical Hispanic cultural oppression. The family rule, a common rule in this culture, was that the youngest daughter is to remain unwed for the duration of her mother’s life, and remain home to care for her. Mama Elena offers her daughter, Tita’s older sister Rosaura, to wed a man named Pedro, who is unknowingly in mutual love with Tita. Tita is forced to bake the cake for the wedding, which contains many tears that she cried during the process. Tita’s bitter tears cause all the wedding guests to become ill after consuming the cake, and Tita discovers she can influence others through her cooking. Throughout the film, Tita’s cooking plays an important role in all the events that transpire.
reminded that he should marry his own kind. His own kind being one of Mexican
Culture is customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. It includes behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms that is shared by a group of people to sustain their lives. Mexican culture is influenced by their familial ties, gender, religion, location and social class, among other factors. Today life in the cities of Mexico has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe, with provincial people conserving traditions more so than the Mexican living in the city. In the United States Mexican includes any person of Puerto
I was born in Mexico and raised in beautiful San Diego since the age of four. Coming to the United States at a very young age I had to face many challenges that have shaped me to the person that I am today. I consider myself a Chicana woman who has overcome the obstacles to get were I am know. Being raised in a Mexcian household has thought me to embrace my culture and its roots. The Spanish and native blood that is with in me remind me of many Americans today. The reason I consider my self Chicana is because of the similar background that I shared with many Americans today. Living in the U.S. I have learned to adapt and embraced the American culture so much so that it came a point of life were I struggled to find my own identity. Taking
Growing up everyone has certain roles to perform; gradually your roles can change once you are freely able to express yourself without any restrictions. Unfortunately just like thousands of other women in the world at the time, the women of Mexico were limited and had role in which they followed. A challenge Mexican women had during their early times was that, “no unmarried women under thirty could legally leave her parental home” (Soto, 10). This limited women to their own individuality as they were force to stay home and take care of their parents since there was no husband to tender for. Every women wanted to get married so that they can grow older a...
From the beginning of the United States, immigrants have always played an integral role. The nation itself was built on immigration, whether to escape persecution or war; however, the United States, as it progressed has had instances where immigrant groups have had issues assimilating into society whether due to the political wave running through the nation or from an economic depression. One group, that has been experiencing this difficulty assimilating into society has been Mexicans who have, since the beginning of the 1960’s, have been coming over in droves to escape the poverty, corruption, and drugs that run rampant in Mexico. So, although the United States was established on immigration, the United States has had an issue with the incoming