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Puerto Rican migration to America
Migration of puerto ricans into united states
Puerto Rican migration to America
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In the compelling novel When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, Santiago talks about her life experiencing childhood in Mucan, Puerto Rico, and to her prosperity as a New York City writer. In her adolescence she lived with her mother Ramona, dad Pablo, and her siblings Delsa and Norma. Later, her mom gives birth to three more siblings first younger brother, Hector, and then, Alicia, Raymond and Edna. Santiago and her siblings were always moving around because of her parent’s dysfunctional relationship and lack of stability of her dad's employment. In one of her parent’s arguments, she discovered that she had a half-sister named Margie who lived in New York. After returning home from school she learns that she will be moving to a house …show more content…
at La Parada in Santurce, outside of San Juan. The family attempts to get accustom to life in San Juan, however after her mother and father reconcile they move right back to Mucan.
Eventually, hurricane Santa Clara hit and damaged the entire area forcing her mother to get a job at a factory as a seamstress. One day when Santiago was in charge of the kids, her brother Raymond while riding a bike with his cousin Jenny got his foot stuck in a bicycle chain. Ramona takes Raymond, along with the remainder of the children to New York. She seeks a foot specialist to check her son out because the doctor’s in Puerto Rico are continuing to talk about amputating his foot. When they got to New York, Santiago at first did not like the area. She describes it as “dark, forbidding, and hard” (218). However, the more she was there, the more accustom she got, and she found herself inside of a performing arts school where she excelled, and then accepted at the University of Harvard where she graduated with honors. This story gave me vivid imagery that helped me understand the landscape and the scenery of the different areas throughout the …show more content…
story. The strengths that stood out to me would definitely be the very descriptive language.
All of the description about the area of Puerto Rico and about the landscape. For example, when she was talking about the guava. “The ripe guava is a yellow, has a bumpy surface and has a thick edible skin. The guava bushes grow close to the ground, and the branches laden with green then yellow fruit that ripen over-night” (Santiago 3). Another example of descriptive language was when Santiago was discussing when she was attacked by the termite and how they felt crawling all over her body; “I screamed, imagining my skin disappearing in chunks into the mouths of hundreds of tiny black specks creeping into parts of my body I couldn’t even reach” (Santiago 11). As well as when they arrived in New York City “Rain had slicked the streets shiny, reflective tunnels lined with skyscrapers whose tops disappeared into the mist. Lampposts shed uneven silver circles of light whose edges faded to gray. An empty trash can chained to a parking meter banged and rolled side to side and its lid flipped and flapped in the wind like a kite on a short string”
(217). Hearing a story from first person point of view to me is always interesting, because it gives a true perspective on what the author is trying to display to the readers. Reading this text gave me a much bigger outlook on Puerto Rico through imagery. Such as the different areas, the type of traditional foods and the customs and practices of their families. I have learned that they are very similar to a lot of Caribbean families, even my own. The fact that they went from the Caribbean to the New York in particular is relatable to me because of the struggle and similar situations my family had to go through. Santiago’s family has so many kids, and they were not the wealthiest family but still managed to make things work. This was very inspiring to me because this is how it typically is with immigrants from other countries. It shows how strong and smart you have to be in order to create a better life for your family. I believe this is a spectacular story and would recommend it to anybody who is looking for a great story that would give the reader inspiration and motivation. Esmeralda Santiago came from nothing and paved her own way to build her success. Of course it took hard work and dedication. In order to get places in life, sacrifices will have to be made. I believe this is a great story also if the reader just wants to learn more about Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in general. The story has an enormous amount of descriptive language, which will help you get a better understanding and visualization of the story. I had an awesome time reading it.
In, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, several events take place to describe the little city of Santiago, Mexico. This town is just south of the border by El Paso, Texas. The book focuses around a lady known as the Remedios. She is a very old healer that helps people with their problems of love, hate, etc. She is the "good" in the book, whereas El Brujo, the warlock, is the bad man in the book. This book's other strong point is that it has several short narratives that focus on one, or a few citizens of Santiago. A few examples are, Candelario (the salad maker), Marta (16 year old that's pregnant), Fulgencio (the photographer that loses all of his equipment) and Don Justo Flores (left his wife and kids and now it haunts him when one of his daughters die). In these stories, these people go threw hardships and ordeals that teach us, the readers, how to or not to deal with life when it isn't looking UP.
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.
The Postwar Period in New York City was an intriguing time to read fiction in. The literature we read in this unit was the play “The Oxcart” by Rene Marques and novel “Manhattan Tropics” by Guillermo Cotto-Thorner. Each piece was set in New York City of Puerto Rican families trying to strive for the American Dream. In “The Oxcart” by Marques was a piece we lightly touched on. Although we only read Act III of the play it set a lot of focus on the dynamics of how America set in the characters. Juanita is considered a modern girl and not following the standards of a Puerto Rican woman. She gets “gifts” for a “job” that is frowned upon her brother Luis. She isn’t like the women back home who would not act the way she does. Luis is
Hannie Rayson’s play ‘Hotel Sorrento’ explores the changing nature of Australian cultural identity. Rayson successfully perpetuates and challenges common Australian stereotypes in order to establish how the Australian National Identity has changed over time. She presents these stereotypes through the characters expectations of gender roles, attitudes towards Australian culture and the theme of ownership.
The short story, Ashes for the Wind by Hernando Tellez, the central conflict is focused around two groups, the all-powerful government and powerless farmers. The struggle that is going on is one that is commonly seen in poor third world countries where the government controls everything and where the people make up the complete work force. The story reveals Juan Martinez’s inner beliefs, that he is a stubborn yet proud man that will stand for everything that he owns even if that means death. Even after voting for the wrong side, Juan protects his family from the evil that is the law. Arevalo’s motivations were such that he did not stand up for the family that he grew up with. His betrayal of the political system and his father leaves Simon’s
Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is an account of the four Mirabal sisters’ lives in the Dominican Republic during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Three of the Mirabal sisters - Minerva, Patria and Maria Teresa sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom by participating in the underground movement which opposed Trujillo’s dictatorship. Their participation in the revolution was a threat to Trujillo’s power and this resulted in the three sisters being killed. The novel tells the story from the point of view of each of the four siblings. The sisters, also referred to as, “The Butterflies,” each had a different approach to dealing with life under Trujillo’s reign. Minerva, the first person from her family to join the revolution, was motivated by principles and she contributed consistently to the revolution. Dede is the only survivor from the Mirabal sisters’ family, this is because she did not participate in the revolution. However, she takes care of the deceased children and tells the story of
Many people would say that to be born a Mexican is to be born a Catholic. This perpetuating stereotype has forced many Mexican families to raise their children as if no other religions options even existed. In the book Pocho by Jose Antonio Villarreal a young boy by the name of Richard Rubio finds himself being raised Catholic by a traditional Mexican family. Richard, struggling to find his place in the world, has his parents religious beliefs pressed down on him forcing him to conform to a religion he does not agree with. Throughout the course of the novel the Catholic religious beliefs imposed on Richard affected his personality in many ways. By the end of the book it is clear that not allowing others to find their own spiritual calling can have drastic effects on their ability to recognize who they are. Many of the spiritual problems Richard faces in book are common to a number of Mexican children. Through the use of my personal experiences in being in a situation similar to that of Richard's, I intend to support my claim that forced beliefs may have damaging effects on a person.
Author’s Techniques: Rudolfo Anaya uses many Spanish terms in this book. The reason for this is to show the culture of the characters in the novel. Also he uses imagery to explain the beauty of the llano the Spanish America. By using both these techniques in his writing, Anaya bring s the true culture of
As a journalist in 1920 for the New York Herald Tribune, Sophie Treadwell was assigned to go to Mexico to follow the situation after the Mexican Revolution. (Mexican Revolution 1910-1917) She covered many important aspects of the Mexican Revolution during this time, including relations between the U.S. and Mexico. She was even permitted an interview with Pancho Villa in August 1921 at his headquarters. This interview and other events that she experienced in Mexico are presumably what led her to write the play Gringo. In Gringo Treadwell tries to depict the stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes that Mexicans and Americans have about each other. There is a demonstration of how Mexican women are looked at in the Mexican culture and how they see themselves. The play also corresponds to similar events that occurred during the Mexican Revolution.
Within the works of “Fiesta, 1980” it takes us in the lives of a Latin American family. We are described a traditional style Latino family were there is a dominate father figure, a submissive mother, and obedient children more or less. There are two boys the eldest Rafa and the youngest Yunior and their younger sister Madai. During the transgression of the story it is conveyed through the eyes of Yunior. And like any typical family it has its own story to tell.
The novel Dreaming in Cuban, written by Cristina Garcia, is a novel following the lives of a Cuban family during La Revolución Cubana. Garcia develops her story in great detail, particularly through the struggles this family faces and how each of them attempts to find their own identity. Although the novel has many characters, Cristina Garcia primarily develops the story through the eyes of Pilar Puente. Even though she is one of the youngest characters, Pilar endures a plethora of struggles with her life and her identity. Her mother, Lourdes Puente, moved the family away to New York in order to shield Pilar from what Lourdes deemed to be an unfavorable past in Cuba. The main source of Pilar’s frustration is her internal conflict between her Cuban heritage and her American identity. This struggle stems from the relationship with her grandmother, Celia del Pino, contrasting with her life in America. Along with her struggle with her Cuban heritage, Pilar Puente has many experiences that shape her self-identity throughout the novel Dreaming in Cuban.
Jimmy Santiago Baca was born into what seemed a closed net family. He had a mother and father along with siblings. From the outside world looking in, they seemed like the ideal family. The Baca 's even had extended family nearby to help with needs and to keep a close relationship with one another. Although Jimmy 's parents were together for many years, their family did not end up how Jimmy or the siblings wanted it to. A close net family is the first that babies and toddlers learn from. The family is who shows you the first words you learn to speak, how to take your first steps, your first everything. When you love and respect your family members, especially your parents you end up under the same influences and beliefs as them and ultimately
In the short story “Being There”, by Jerzy Kosinski, there are multiple examples of satire that are displayed throughout both the book and the movie. A few of them are: media, death, politics, and racism. The satire of the media was very similar in the book and the movie. Media played a big role in society and still does to this day.
“Who is more to blame though either should do wrong? She who sins for pay or he who pays to sin?” Throughout “You Foolish Men” by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz the central question lies around who is to really blame for the suppression of women. De la Cruz attempts throughout her poem to portray men as ludicrous for their a double standard of women. However, De la Cruz blames human nature more than men for the suppression of women.
A person's ability to develop is due to two factors, maturation and learning. Although maturation, or the biological development of genes, is important, it is the learning - the process through which we develop through our experiences, which make us who we are (Shaffer, 8). In pre-modern times, a child was not treated like they are today. The child was dressed like and worked along side adults, in hope that they would become them, yet more modern times the child's need to play and be treated differently than adults has become recognized. Along with these notions of pre-modern children and their developmental skills came the ideas of original sin and innate purity. These philosophical ideas about children were the views that children were either born "good" or "bad" and that these were the basis for what would come of their life.