Critical Analysis of Day-Long Day by Tino Villanueva Tino Villanueva’s “Day-Long Day” is a remarkable work, for it captures in 34 short lines the anger, frustration, and cruelty of the life of Mexican migrant workers in Texas. The searing heat, the backbreaking and painful work of picking cotton—all of it is here in vivid detail. II Diction “Diction” refers to the choice of words an author uses that distinguishes his “voice” from everyone else’s. That is, if you pick up a book by Charles Dickens, you don’t have to read very far before you know without looking who the author is—he has a unique style. Much of that style depends on diction, which are the words a writer chooses to use and the way he constructs sentences. In Villanueva’s case, he uses many Spanish phrases, so that we know he is a Spanish-speaker. He also uses sophisticated language and striking constructions, so that we know he is educated, even though he is a field hand: “Daydreams border on sun-fed hallucinations, eyes and hands automatically discriminate Whiteness of cotton from field of vision.” His choice of the word “discriminate” rather than “choose”, as well as the phrase “field of vision”, indicate a high degree of intelligence. Whether this is the intelligence of the poet or the field hand is immaterial at this point, for Villanueva has described the scene so vividly that we believe he is one with the other workers. The impact of the poem is not lessened if we find that he is not. III Syntax “Syntax” is the way in which words are arranged to form sentences. Construction is another good indication of intelligence, for it can be used to enhance the meaning of words. In the lines above, Villanueva might have said “…hands... ... middle of paper ... ...icable” boss who would rather have the child working in the fields than going to school. The workers dream daydreams that are not far removed from heat-induced hallucinations, and their only relief is a drink of water from an old jug. They spend their lives in an endless cycle of misery and poverty: “row-trapped, zigzagging through summer-long rows of cotton” This work is all they know, and they are figuratively trapped by their ignorance as they are literally trapped by the closely-spaced rows of cotton plants. X Conclusion This is a wonderful poem. The title itself is intriguing, as it can be read in many different ways: it’s a long day, to be sure, but is it only a day long? Or is this the life that these workers will lead forever? Villanueva tells us that they will never escape, and in so doing, reveals a powerful voice in the literary world.
Have you ever thought of working in the hot sun for twelve hours ?Francisco Jimenez portrays the lives of migrant farmworkers as struggling with poverty and dealing with child labor by giving many examples.In “The Circut” by Francisco Jimenez the short story is about a Mexican boy named Panchito and his family. They crossed the border from Mexico to California for a better life as migrant farmworkers. They pack up and move each season to find work only to endure hardships and the struggle of having to start over every few months.
Chapter four talked a lot about The Tanaka brothers Farm and how the workers had picked berries once a week or twice a week and experienced several forms of pain days afterward. Workers often felt sick the night before picking due to stress about picking the minimum weight. This chapter also focuses ethnographic attention on how the poor suffer. The poorest of the poor on the farm were the Triqui Strawberry pickers. The Triqui migrant laborers can be understood as an embodiment of violence continuum. Triqui people experienced notable health problems affecting their ability to function in their work or their families. This chapter also talked about how crossing the border from Mexico to the United States involves incredible financial, physical, and emotional suffering for Triqui
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
The push-and-pull factors in Enrique’s yearn for the U.S not only allows him to rediscover himself as an individual in a world of uncertainty, it also eliminates his constant fear of failing as a promising human being; in addition exhibits the undying hope of a desperate man found in hopeful migrants. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” his mother’s trip streamed “emptiness” into the heart of a once comfortable child and left him to “struggle” to hold memories they shared. Enrique’s life after Lourdes’ departure triggered the traumatizing demise of his identity. He threw this broken identity away while facing many obstacles, nevertheless each endea...
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.
This poem captures the immigrant experience between the two worlds, leaving the homeland and towards the new world. The poet has deliberately structured the poem in five sections each with a number of stanzas to divide the different stages of the physical voyage. Section one describes the refugees, two briefly deals with their reason for the exodus, three emphasises their former oppression, fourth section is about the healing effect of the voyage and the concluding section deals with the awakening of hope. This restructuring allows the poet to focus on the emotional and physical impact of the journey.
Diction is shown throughout this book more than once and is more clearly used to show the two sides of the human nature. Harper Lee clearly shows this when she describes Aunt Alexandra arriving to the Finch household. She clearly uses diction multiple times to describe Aunt Alexandra’s good and bad nature. Another example of this is when Scout talks about Atticus Finch.
Firstly, John Steinbeck represents the lives of migrant workers in his novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’. The lives of migrant workers were hard, challenging and unrewarding. Migrant workers suffered from poverty because they were low-wage workers performing manual labour in the agricultural field. They were forced to travel between American states in search of seasonal work .In the novel, John Steinbeck shows the harsh realit...
Nevertheless, Cisneros’s experience with two cultures has given her a chance to see how Latino women are treated and perceived. Therefore, she uses her writing to give women a voice and to speak out against the unfairness. As a result, Cisneros’ story “Woman Hollering Creek” demonstrates a distinction between the life women dream of and the life they often have in reality.
The role of strong female roles in literature is both frightening to some and enlightening to others. Although times have changed, Sandra Cisneros’ stories about Mexican-American women provide a cultural division within itself that reflects in a recent time. The cultural themes in Cisneros’s stories highlight the struggle of women who identify with Mexican-American heritage and the struggle in terms of living up to Mexican culture – as a separate ethnic body. The women in Sandra Cisneros’ stories are struggling with living up to identities assigned to them, while trying to create their own as women without an ethnic landscape. In Sandra Cisneros’ stories “Woman Hollering Creek: and “Never Marry a Mexican” the role of female identities that are conflicted are highlighted, in that they have to straddle two worlds at once as Mexican-American women.
The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost
This agency creates a complex self-realization that readers find in both of the characters, however both shows different approach that differentiate their character from one another. As a result, both characters manifest a sense of victimization, but somehow in their hope for upward mobility, negate that. The power of this purpose is retrospective to all migrant workers because that is all they have---it’s rather success or failure.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
Sandra Cisneros’ novel, The House on Mango Street, examines various key issues within established social systems. As a bildungsroman story, not only is there much growth and development experienced by the character, but from the reader as well. This is because the novel challenges false preset notions that one may have of the main character’s culture. In tearing down custom barriers and voicing out painful truths, there is a deeper understanding of Latina culture in the United States of America. Sandra Cisneros empowers the women who are living in a patriarchal society and her main character, reinforced by her name, Esperanza, gives women just that, hope.
In The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail, Oscar Martinez comments on the injustices that occur while migrating from Central America. Central Americans are forced to leave their countries in fear of the inevitable consequences. The systematic abuse Central Americans endure while migrating is founded on that fear which results in more repercussions for migrants. The psychological effects of migrating is used by Martinez to give insight on the atrocities that happen in Central America. The corruption involved while migrating in Central America is against human rights and should be brought immediate attention internationally. Martinez uses the experiences of migrants to expose Mexico’s passivity on the subject and to expose readers’ to the hard truths that occur while migrating.