The author Milcha Sanchez-Scott was born in Bali, Indonesia, her father was from Colombia and mother from Chinese-Dutch-Indonesian. Milcha went to the University of San Diego in California while there she won number of drama-league awards. The author wrote several other plays beside The Cuban Swimmer, the others where Evening Star and City of Angels (DiYanni 2043). This play takes place in the Pacific Ocean where Margarita Suarez is swimming to the Catalina Islands. She is trying to reach the island to win money and a trophy. During her journey, she encounters many obstacles. Margarita and her family are from Cuba but live in the Unites States. The play is in two languages English and Spanish because the family is Hispanic. Because of this, the author mixed it up with both languages. The setting of the play takes place in the ocean, the family in the boat and Margarita swimming to win a race. In the boat, you have the father, mother, brother and grandmother of Margarita Suarez. The characters of this play are Eduardo Suarez the father, Aida the mother, Simon the brother and Abuela the grandmother. Eduardo is the coach, trainer and mentor for Margarita; he is the one that is telling her what she needs to do. Her bother Simon is there also to helping out. Aida and Abuela are along for the ride but also helping and encouraging Margarita. The character in this play is a family that is there to support Margarita. They are proud that Margarita is doing …show more content…
A family who is from a different culture and race and the obstacle they encounter from others but that does not stop them from doing what they want to do. Margarita and her family have a dream of winning a race, the swimmer encounter tiredness and weakness when she was swimming, but she never gave up because she had her family there to cheer her and even pray for her. That is what Latinos do; we pray for each other and help each other
In the award winning play The Oxcart “La carreta”, by René Marqués is about a Puerto Rican family trying to escape poverty by moving to a more prosperous place. The Characters of the Oxcart are: Doña Gabriela who is a widow and the mother of Juanita and chaguito and also the stepmom of Luis, she is very strong woman. Juanita her daughter in the other hand stars off as a docile person whoever after something tragic happens to her she then becomes this strong defying character and eventually she becomes a prostitute. Chaguito is a very naughty boy he loves that streets and hates school he is extremely disrespectful. Don Chago is the father of Luis and Doña Gabriela’s husband he’s the typical and traditional man who won’t leave behind his place of origin. Luis, Doña Gabriela’s stepson, he is the head of the household; he works very hard but eventually dies coincidentally while working. Those are the primarily characters of the Oxcart then we have the others such as Lidia, whose Juanita’s friend while living in New York, we also have Lito, who is a family neighbor while they are living in San Juan, we also have Germana, the nosey neighbor. Matilde who is the one that encourages Juanita to enter the world of prostitution, and then we have Paco, a radio personality that meets Juanita in New York and ask her to marry him. There is also Mr. Parkinton an American preacher and lastly Doña Isabel, a former teacher and Luis’ fiancé’s aunt that also has a brief affair with him
The poem is written from an experience point of view and can therefore be said to have some elements of autobiographical account. A major theme that can be deducted from these particular poems includes that of cultural identity expression within America. Cultural awareness is considered one of the most critical aspects by immigrants living in America. In the collection of the poems of by the author, it entails presentation of the challenge that immigrants and non-Americans usually go through with regard to attaining their true cultural identity. Blanco indicates that he is a Cuba American and just like any other Latino living in the larger American society, he has to find a way to find is true cultural
? . . . it made no difference if they studied medicine or had the right to vote, because they would not have the strength to do it, but she herself [Nivea] was not brave enough to be among the first to give up the fashion.? (6, Ch 1) The women in this society are dependant on the dominant male figure to handle political and economical duties. This point of view is intended to mimic the older generation of women ad present a foundation for the growth of an enlightened generation. Allende uses this excerpt to present a foundation of structure to the novel by beginning with the extremes of opinion, which are followed in the novel through different generations. Alba for example, become a very outspoken activist by trying to attend the student protests and follow Miguel on his demonstrations, a sharp contrast to the indifference or shallowness found in her great grandmother.
The novel “The Color of Family Ties”, by Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, through their research they found out that the ratio of disorganized family for Black and Latino/a families are higher than White families. That white families are more nuclear, which means a couple with their dependent children. In contrast, Black and Latino/a families has a high ratio that they often live with their extended families (Naomi and Sarkisian 47). This novel ties in to the “Looking for Work” novel because Gerstel and Sarkisian shows a research regarding how Latino families are disorganized, and the way how Mexican families lives are just like Gary’s family, the extended family. We know that Gary’s family are disorganized, but nevertheless, Gary has extended families members who he lives together with. Gary’s family showed solidarity love by just help each other out and spending time together. “We ran home for my bike and when my sister found out that we were going swimming, she started to cry because she didn’t have fifteen cents but only an empty Coke bottle”(24 Soto). This is Gary’s cousin Debra who needs fifteen cents to go to the swimming pool, of course Gary and his friend helped Debra out. Other time that showed Gary’s family love is that Gary’s mother always let Gary’s play with his friends outside, not because she does not love Gary is because
Latinos who were raised in the United States of America have a dual identity. They were influenced by both their parents' ancestry and culture in addition to the American culture in which they live. Growing up in between two very different cultures creates a great problem, because they cannot identify completely with either culture and are also caught between the Spanish and English languages. Further more they struggle to connect with their roots. The duality in Latino identity and their search for their own personal identity is strongly represented in their writing. The following is a quote that expresses this idea in the words of Lucha Corpi, a Latina writer: "We Chicanos are like the abandoned children of divorced cultures. We are forever longing to be loved by an absent neglectful parent - Mexico - and also to be truly accepted by the other parent - the United States. We want bicultural harmony. We need it to survive. We struggle to achieve it. That struggle keeps us alive" ( Griwold ).
Every character in the story at some point or all throughout the novel demonstrates certain characteristics which violate the conventional gender roles. For instance, Pedro and John share feminine characteristics. John is the one that portrays the more motherly and nurturing tendencies as she cares for Tita, “Afterwards, John’s large, loving hands had taken off her clothes and bathed her and carefully removed the pigeon droppings from her body, leaving her clean and sweet-smelling” (98). In contrast, Mama Elena is perhaps the most obvious character who takes on the role of the male dominant force in the novel unlike most women at that time who are usually supressed by the male figures. In this example, ‘Unquestionably, when it came to dividing, dismantling, dismembering, desolating, detaching, dispossessing, destroying, or dominating, Mama Elena was a pro’ (87) the strong use of alliteration by the author describes Mama Elena’s cruel personality. This role reversal is heightened by the contrasting character of Nacha, who acts as the more motherly figure to Tita.
Grande introduces to the audience various characters that cross Juana 's path to either alter or assist her on her journey to find her father. Through those individuals, Grande offers a strong comparison of female characters who follow the norms, versus those that challenge gender roles that
Scott Momaday is an author that uses his roots to weave enchanting stories that reach into the heart of things that we ordinarily overlook. He uses nature as an instrument, to illustrate the beauty in the simple, nearly forgotten knowledge of the Native American people. His stories are rich with meaning, but in a subtle way that only really makes sense once you have experienced the same type of search for self. They are steeped in the oral traditions of his ancestors to make supremely compelling stories with layers upon layers of culture and knowledge that are easily relatable and understandable.
The play sets in Honest Sancho’s Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop. Valdez tells about a shopkeeper Honest Sancho, who sells various models of stereotypical Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that buyers can take control by simply snapping their fingers and calling out commands. In Luiz play, the Mexican stereotypes tend to be refused by society. This is proven when a secretary named Miss Jimenez to come from the Governor’s office to buy a “brown-skinned robot. For Regan’s administration because it will look good to have a “Mexican Type” on the staff. (Valdez 938) The secretary gives Sancho a list of peculiar items she wants in a Mexican type for the administration such as the ability to speak English. The secretaries do not like any of the models because the weaknesses she found in each model. Shows readers how unreasonable people are quick to judge something. The discrimination against race causes some Mexican-American to choose to ignore their race and attempt to separate themselves from their ethnic
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).
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
Arredondo exposed Luisa as a dynamic character because during the story the readers can see the changes that her personality had over the time. At the beginning of the story the reader can see how Luisa takes care of her uncle with devotion and love, but after they married she considered it as a disgusting duty. Ines Arredondo described Luisa as woman who has the power of “purify everything” (81), but after suffering the physical abuse of her uncle, all her innocence disappear. She was an innocent girl that was reserving herself for marriage. However, after married her uncle, she started seen the things in a different way. Now, she thinks of herself as “the vilest of harlot” (87). The way that the author exposes Luisa is like happy young lady that thanks to the circumstances enter to a deep depression that changes her life and she “was not able to go back to who I [she] was”
I agree with the play’s message, because throughout the whole production of this play, the women FuenteOvejuna were picked off as if they were a sheep that lost her herd by the antagonist. As the people of FuenteOvejuna banded together to fight back against the predator, Command Guzman, he was rendered powerless due to the sheer number of enraged citizens. Not only the theme was brought up repeatedly as Commander Guzman attacked several women, but the University of Houston product kept addressing who was the protagonist and antagonist by using different shades of
Anna in the Tropics is a play written by Nilo Cruz. The story surrounds a family of Cuban immigrants that live in Florida. It’s the 1920’s and they run a cigar factor by rolling cigars the traditional way - by hand. The owner hires a lector who reads to the workers during the hot summers. This cultural custom was practiced in Cuba to keep the hand rollers entertained with dynamic novel choices. What makes this play more interesting is the book choice of the lector. He reads Anna Karenina, a dramatic classic novel written by Leo Tolstoy. The lector brings the cold Russian winter of the story into the factory and insights passion in the workers who find themselves intertwined with the lives of
This movie follows the relationship of the two main characters from the time Léon saves Mathilda's life against his better judgment. This event causes both of their lives to take a detour that ends up giving meaning to both of their existences. She is trapped living in a dysfunctional family environment with an abusive father and step-mother, a hateful step-sister and her quite little brother with only a dismal outlook on her future. She is a precocious young girl who's life seems to have several parallels with the Cinderella story. Léon is a stoic, uneducated and an unremorseful killer that is totally unemotional and unattached to the world around him. He becomes the prince that saves her.