Manuel Munoz writes about Mexican names and how people who are not Mexican “butcher” their names. Munoz also talks about the reason why he was named Manuel and expectations he is given based off of his name. I’ve had similar experiences when people say my name, I’ve had people expect things of me based off of my name, and my name has special significance to my family as well. Mexican names can be hard to pronounce and its kind of embarrassing when you have to correct the person trying to say your name. Munoz said that, “most people cannot say his name correctly, the way it was intended to be said.” I understand exactly what Munoz is talking about because I come from Mexican background. People can read my name in English or in Spanish. Usually
people will read my name in English, but as soon as they see me they stop and ask me if they pronounced it correctly. I often feel embarrassed, the way Munoz feels when he has to correct someone. Many people come up to me and expect me to know Spanish because of my name. Because I’m half white and the language of America is English, my father didn’t find it necessary to teach me Spanish. When Munoz’s name is said correctly in his native language, people make assumptions that he is straight from Mexico and does not know any English. The expectations that I have been given are a bit different from the expectations that Munoz receives. Before I was born, my mother was set on naming me Christine because my grandmother wanted Christine. Right after I was born my mother changed her mind and named me after my father’s mother. My grandmother’s name is Teresa Monje Aranda. I was named Teresa Christine Aranda. My name situation is similar to what Munoz’s father did for him. Instead of being named Ricardo, he was named Manuel, after an uncle. Manuel Munoz, author of “Leave Your Name at the Border,” is proud of his full name alliteration. This story is great for people who have just moved to America. People who speak English may have difficulty trying to say the name of someone from another country but no one should be ashamed of correcting them. Your name is you, your name was given to you at birth, there is no reason for you to alter it for someone else’s conviences.
‘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.
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.
The article shows her ideas with a specific focus on the Latino community in English-language country. The writer said “After my first set of lessons, I could function in the present tense. Hola, Paco. De que color es tu cuaderno? El mío es azul”. (Barrientos, Tanya p.64). This is evidence throughout the article that she said such as this sentence and writes some words in Spanish that she don’t know. The writer was born in a Latin American country, and feels like a Latina (the brown-skin) even if she was raised in the United States and does not speak Spanish anymore. In addition, this article also serves as inspiration for people with different backgrounds that suffer from the same problem, helping all the people that face the same problem. I’m also have same experience. I’m growing up in Shandong province, but born in Guangdong province. It is so far from Guangdong to Shandong. And China is an old country, the culture and habit is not similar from place to place. If there are a few mountains between two cities, the language is total different. So every time when I come back to my hometown, the citizen, especially my grandparents, which growing up in tradition, will call me “yuasangia”, which like the writer’s struggles in American. However, the different is that this noun just for others province people who live in or travel to my hometown. Every time when I say my hometown language
Henry Louis Gates in “What’s in a Name?” and Dumas in “The F word” both experience issues with there names. They both were defined by there names and were treated with oppression. Both Gates and Dumas had no control over this ethnic oppression. It limited their independence and treated them in a unjust way.
“We all use stereotypes all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us,” quoted by Annie Murphy Paul, a journalist. Human beings typically have varied mindsets as they grow up with different cultural values as well as social environment. Author Gary Soto’s “Like Mexican” compares his Mexican life with his wife’s Japanese background, while author Deborah Tannen’s “Gender in the Classroom” contrasts the “gender-related styles” of male and female students. From the two perspectives Soto’s and Tannen’s experiences’ give a universal, stereotypical point how different gender tendencies, conversational styles, and cultural background can result in a miscommunication of one’s behavior.
In this reading, the writer tells a story that proves how important a name is. Calling a person, a name that only identifies with their ethnicity means that all of them are the same goes for, no matter how respected they are in the community they are still identified as their race and discriminated against for it, the extra effort they put into their task may be extraordinary but they are still a certain race. In the story "What 's in a Name? “by Henry Louis Gates he writes that his father was well respected, a hard worker and middle class but he was still black. One’s name is not only part of their identity it is what makes them
In 1910, the first social upheaval of the 20th century was unleashed in Mexico. Known as the Mexican Revolution, its historical importance and impact inspired an abundance of internationally renowned South American authors. Mariano Azuela is one of these, whose novel, "The Underdogs" is often described as a classic of modern Hispanic literature. Having served as a doctor under Pancho Villa, a revolutionary leader of the era, Azuela's experience in the Revolution provides The Underdogs with incomparable authenticity of the political and social tendencies of the era between 1910 and 1920. The Underdogs recounts the living conditions of the Mexican peasants, the corruption of the government troops, and the revolutionary zeal behind the inspiring causes of the revolution. In vivid detail and honest truth, Azuela reveals the actuality of the extent of turmoil that plagued Mexico and its people during the revolution. However, before one can acknowledge The Underdogs as a reflection of the Mexican Revolution one must have an understanding the political state of Mexico prior to the Revolution and the presidents who reigned during it.
In the poem “Mexican is Not a Noun”, it seems as if the author, Francisco Alarcon, is letting the readers know that the word “Mexican” depicts an action word instead of a person, place, or thing. The structure of the poem is parallel. Up under the title of the poem, there is information regarding how some Mexican women were arrested for showing solidarity. I perceived this information as a reason why the poem contained short lines as if Alarcon’s view of the cannery workers were short and to the point. It seems very obvious that the writer is upset and wrote just what his thoughts were about the strike at the cannery. The Mexicans do not seem to be treated fairly. It seems as if Alarcon writes the poem to tell how Mexicans had to live a life
The analysis of Latino, Hispanic and Chicano (referred to as LHC from here on) literature has been adapted to be compared to the Anglo writing that American society has adopted. The cultural aspects of LHC literature create a unique type of writing that influences the readers from seeing outside their world view. Expanding the knowledge of LHC literature in American society has impacted the United States by allowing for more diversity in the characters and stories they learn about.
Two simple strangers can share a couple of differences but many similarities. The unexpected can occur at the most inconvenient time when two people meet. In “Geraldo No Last Name”, Sandra Cisneros uses short but precise diction and syntax to compare and contrast Geraldo and Marin in order to reveal the two strangers’ similarities, such as their insignificance, and differences, such as their social class.
The Chicana/o identity has developed through the history of Mexican-Americans living in the United States. Chicana/o identity is multi-layered and self-identified. Although, it does not have a set definition, I will highlight examples of different forms of representations that helped claimed this identity. Through various examples of Denise A. Segura and Beatriz M. Pesquera article “Beyond Indifference and Antipathy”, “Chicana Identity Matters” article by Deena J. Gonzalez, “Chicano Teatro” article by Jorge A. Huerta, “Their Dogs Came With Them” novel by Helena María Viramontes, and Murals by Judith Baca and David Alfaro Siqueiros, they will illuminate the historic struggle that creates and defines Chicana/o identity. The Chicana/o term has been very complex throughout time as a form of identity. However, Mexican-Americans were given this long history of misrepresentation as being dumb, lazy, inferior, servile, sexualized and/or criminal. One example of it would be the creation of Olvera Street in Los Angeles. In I will argue that through numerous forms of representations, Chicana/o identity is multi-dimensional and has developed through Mexican-Americans life experiences and the influence from the larger white U.S society. Lastly, I will demonstrate this by including the representations of gender, race, citizenship, and class to expose the self-identified Chicana/o identity.
Hernan Cortes is being charged with killing a generation of people, which is called Genocide. Hernan Cortes went to Mexico with the intentions of killing the Aztecs, but he didn’t know he had a disease but he went there still to kill everyone. Hernan Cortes was from Spain. He wanted to go to Mexico and claim land for his country. Queen Isabella had said yes to the journey or he wouldn’t had been able to go to an unowned land. She later changed her mind about Cortes going. Gomez Rascon was a crew member and was dragged on his journey to Mexico. Gomez had witnessed everything that had happened in Mexico.
As we know, most people being immigrants to other countries have a hard time to adapt different culture in a new environment. They may meet some difficulties such as finding jobs, communicating with others and discrimination. According to the essay “The F Word” written by Firoozeh Dumas, she shows that one of the challenges for immigrants in America is their foreign names. Moreover, she also uses a lot of examples to indicate how this obstacle affects her life in different time period, such as her childhood, after graduating from university and getting married. Lastly, she chooses to use her original name and tries to respect her culture. However, Firoozeh Dumas utilizes a funny opening, circumstantial examples and coherent organization to explain the difficulty of having a foreign name in America effectively.
Carger explains that incompetency of teachers attempting to educate students who are limited-English proficient. “The problem… is educational systems which have not adapted successfully to such diversity, which have not looked into the face of such a child and seen beauty and potential, but function instead in a deficit finding mode” (Carger, 7). Carger reveals how society was reluctant in accepting and adapting the culture of Mexican immigrants, which left many to suffer. The suffering is not only seen in Alejandro’s academic challenges, but also in the obstacles of his family’s everyday life. “The Juarez family, which reflects the bronzed race that is Aztlan (decedents of Aztecs), had experienced persistent and abiding prejudice from employers, educators, and community members in general” (Carger, 11).