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how the garcia girls lost their accents self definition
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A Realistic Look at Bread Givers and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
America is a country that was created and settled by immigrants from many different lands. These immigrants came to America in search of the "American Dream" of freedom and a better way of life, and their narratives have been recorded by various authors in both fiction and non-fiction stories. But can the fiction genre be considered a reliable source for studying the immigrant narrative? If American immigrant literature is to be used as a reliable source for understanding the immigrant experience, one needs to justify that this literature properly tracks the history of the immigrant narrative.
In an effort to justify the fiction genre as a reliable source for understanding the immigrant narrative, we will look at the personal life and fictional works of both Anzia Yezierska and Julia Alvarez, two second generation immigrant authors, who have written about immigrant experiences. In doing so we will determine if the personal stories of these ladies follow the basic immigrant narrative, if their fiction stories convey a realistic depiction of the immigrant people they write about, and as a result can we surmise that American immigrant literature can be a reliable source for understanding the immigrant experience?
The American immigrant narrative starts with the immigrant’s decision to leave the old world. The reasons for leaving may vary from person to person and country to country, but all come seeking a better life than they had in the old world. The narrative continues with the actual journey to the new world and the struggles that are encountered along the way. Once in America, many immigrants face shock at the new culture they enco...
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...n America, and the fiction genre can be a reliable and enjoyable source for understanding the immigrant experience in this multi-cultural society we call the United States of America.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York: Plume, 1992.
Alvarez, Julia. Something to Declare. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 1998.
Contemporary Authors. Vol. 147. Detroit: Gale, 1995
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 46. Detroit: Gale, 1988.
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 93. Detroit: Gale, 1996.
Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 28. Detroit: Gale, 1984
Harris, Alice. Preface. Bread Givers. By Anzia Yezierska. New York: Persea, 1975. v-xviii.
Seller, Maxine. To Seek America: A History of Ethnic Life in the United States. Englewood: Ozer, 1977.
Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. New York: Persea, 1975.
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Marty has an eidetic memory, is extremely curious, and enjoys going on adventures that involve extreme risk. These last two things can get him into trouble, and have in the past. He is athletic, has no fear, and is artistic. He loves drawing comics and playing practical jokes.
Bestseller journalist, Sonia Nazario, in her literacy non-fiction, Enrique’s Journey, describes a young man’s journey trying to reconcile with his mother in the United States, but has to go through many obstacles to reach her. Nazario’s purpose is to inform readers about how immigration affects children and their mothers in Central America. She adopts an optimistic/determined tone in order to reveal to her readers the difficulty and bravery the children have to face to get to the United States. Nazario begins her credibility with ethos to retrace an abandon teenager’s journey through Central America, pathos to follow the mother son relationship, and logos by giving facts and statistics for illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Brands, H. W.. American Stories: A History of the United States. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
Pilcer, Sonia. "2G." Visions of America Personal Narratives from the Promised Land. Ed. Wesley Brown and Amy Ling. 4th ed. New York: Peresea Books, 1993. 201-206.
This book is a story about 4 sisters who tell their stories about living on an island in the Dominican Republic , and then moving to New York . What is different about this book is the fact that you have different narrators telling you the story , jumping back and forth from past to present . This is effective because it gives you different view point’s from each of the sisters . It may also detract from the narrative because of the fact that it’s confusing to the reader . This is a style of writing that has been recognized and analyzed by critics . Julia Alvarez is a well- known writer and in a way , mirrors events that happened in her own life , in her book . Looking into her life , it show’s that she went through an experience somewhat like the sisters . I interviewed an immigrant , not from the same ethnic back ground as the sisters , but a Japanese immigrant . This was a very
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Written almost 500 years ago, Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince” brings forward a new definition of virtue. Machiavelli’s definition argued against the concept brought forward by the Catholic Church. Machiavelli did not impose any thoughts of his own, rather he wrote from his experience and whatever philosophy that lead to actions which essentially produced effective outcomes in the political scene of Italy and in other countries. While Machiavelli is still criticized for his notions, the truth is that, consciously or subconsciously we are all thinking for our own benefit and going at length to achieve it. On matters of power where there is much to gain and a lot more to lose, the concept of Machiavelli’s virtue of “doing what needs to be done” applies rigorously to our modern politics and thus “The Prince” still serves as a suitable political treatise in the 21st century.
Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “Immigrant America: A Portrait.” Kiniry and Rose 336-337. Print.
When discussing immigration it is very hard to talk about the emotions immigrants had when entering the country because no one knows their experience first-hand except them. Essays like “Coming and Going: Round-Trip to America” by Mark Wyman and “Permanently Lost: The Trauma of Immigration” by Victor Greene give readers a better insight on the mindsights of immigrants by telling the why and how of their journeys. In “Coming and Going….”,Wyman talks about immigrants entering the United States for the sole purpose of making a steady income to support themselves and their families at home. In “Permanently Lost…”, Greene goes in depth about the mistreatment faced by immigrants and how music and dance became an outlet to the oppression. Both essays
First, the movie “Marty” gives insight into the various types of relationships that can develop between people. For example, the relationship between Marty and Claire is started because of one reason; they are in parallel situations with each other. In other words, they started their relationship based on the Attraction Theory, which explains that people start relationships and continue them because they are attracted to each other through the other person having great qualities and similar traits, whether physical or not. In the movie, Marty is attracted to Claire when she starts crying because her date left her at the party. In fact, when Marty is comforting Claire, she tells him that she does not have much luck with men and she has had heartbreak in the past with other r...
"Immigrants and the American Dream." Society 33.n1 (Nov-Dec 1995):3(3). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale University. 26 Sep. 2006.
The literary history of the US ought to be represented not by 'the American' and
Immigrants traveled hundreds of miles from their homes, only with what possessions they could carry, in order to obtain the rights and chase the promise that America had to offer. Mary Antin illustrates in The Promised Land how if given the chance, immigrants will represent the promises and virtues of American society. Antin shows that public education, freedom from religious persecution, and freedom of expression as a citizen are aspects of life Americans may take for granted but immigrants certainly do not.
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