My Latino Heart by Mario Garcia and Of Cholos and Surfers by Jack Lopez

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My Latino Heart by Mario Garcia and Of Cholos and Surfers by Jack Lopez

For my essay I have chosen to go with the idea, that not everything in California is what it seems. The truth behind the idea of California and the things that you can accomplish. What is hidden is the struggles and failure of some people when they do come to California. The connections in two stories one being “My Latino Heart” by Mario Garcia. The next story will be “Of Cholos and Surfers” by Jack Lopez. The connections in these two stories is that in Mr. Lopez story is that a young boy is troubled because he is not sure on what being a “Mexican” is all about, and that ties in with what is California image really trying to say. The next story “Of Cholos and Surfers” is a depiction of a young boy also, but he is having trouble trying to break out of the tradition of being a normal “Mexican” and do what he is more comfortable doing. This story ties into how even California isn’t as liberal as the state claims to be.

The idea of that California is the state to come to where your dreams come true is a very real thing. Also writers, from newspapers, magazines, and even books have a tendency to write the upside of the good things and then tend to leave some of the bad things to chance. Some writers have called California the vanishing dream. The myth of California being a good and bad goes back to the time of the Gold Rush and Dust Bowl. The Gold Rush is a example of the California myth because people were finding gold. There was a problem with people finding gold. People were coming to California for gold, but they found out that once they got here, there wasn’t as much gold as they had hoped to find. When the people were finding gold it was not enough to support any kind of life that was promised. The people wanted to have the luxurious life that went along with finding this mineral. Gold was not at the high price that everyone thought it would be at. Don’t get me wrong some people did do well from finding this mineral, but not a lot. Another incident that California is a myth is the Dust Bowl.

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