In evaluating The Cuban Swimmer by Milcha Sanchez-Scott, I found that the play embodied many elements of drama in making it successful and that the whole play itself reflects a deeper meaning. In The Cuban Swimmer, the protagonist, Margarita is aiming to succeed in a marathon challenge from San Pedro Island to Catalina Island. She faces conflict, along with her family, her brother Simon, and grandmother, who are on a boat following her there. Milcha Sanchez-Scott writes a play that is both engaging and shocking, including many elements of drama such as conflict, rising action, and climax, among many others that lead it to be a successful and enjoyable play. Overall, I believe the whole play signifies the journeys that Hispanic immigrants face when they are coming to America and striving to live out the “American Dream.” …show more content…
For most Hispanic families, the grandmother, if she has lost her husband, will live with one of her children. The grandmother also only mainly speaks Spanish, which is how most older Hispanic people are as well. Hispanic families are often always numerous in that there is usually more than one child per family. The author, a Hispanic person herself, portrays this aspect of the story successfully. Continuing, the play begins with the family on the boat except for Margarita who is already in the water. The main person involved in this marathon aside from Margarita is her father, Eduardo. They seem to have a close relationship and I say this because he is the main person encouraging her and cheering her on. He really wants her to succeed and I felt that that represents how Hispanic immigrants feel about succeeding in America. They will do whatever it takes if it means having a home, a successful job, and a happier
...ition to costume, language and dialogue is what fixes the atmosphere and the action. In a manner very similar to Shakespeare, Calderón weaves description of the scene and of what is occurring into the main thrust of the play. In this sense, he is more than a poet, he is a dramatic craftsman who predominantly through his verse alone, creates a drama in its own right. All the clues to the plot and its themes lie in the text; the use of staging, costume, music and props can be used to enhance what lies in the script. What they give to the play is a fuller and more entertaining dramatic production. Thus, if used sensitively and intelligently by a director, these factors can increase the dramatic power of the work. The primary focus, however, remains the language, which relies on a high standard of acting in order to do justice to the subtleties of the play.
Living Out by Lisa Loomer is a play that tells the story of the complicated relationship between a Salvadoran nanny and the lawyer she works for. Both women are smart, hard-working mothers who want better lives for their children. The play explores many similarities and differences between them. Through the main character Ana, we understand what it’s like to leave a child in another country and to come to come to the United States. We also get what the potential cost is like to sacrifice your own child in order to care for someone else's. Through the lawyer; Nancy, we understand the pressure on women today. How they try to do everything perfectly and sometimes having to put work before their family. The play also looks at the discrimination and misconceptions between Anglos (White American’s) and Latinos.
In the second story of Drown by Junot Diaz, Yunior and Rafa have already been in the United States of America for about three years. In this story, their mother’s sister came to the United States. They travel to the Bronx in order to celebrate their aunts and uncles’ arrival. In Fiesta 1980, we meet their father and sister, and learn more about their mother. Through the way they all interact, we learn more about each family member’s characteristics and their family dynamic.
Through the view of a young girl, this story really captures what it’s like to feel like immigration is the only option for a family. In the story, set in the 1960’s, Anita lives in the Dominican Republic, a country with a dictator named el jefe. One day at school, Anita’s cousin is called out of class, and Anita is asked to go with. She finds out that her
Julia Alvarez wrote the novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”. Alvarez, (a Dominican-American novelist) was born in New York City. Her story is about four sisters (The Garcia family) who were living an established, upper class life in the Dominican Republic. They were forced to flee from the Dominican Republic to the United States due to their father’s opposition to Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. The Garcia family were forced to face the challenges that came along with being an immigrant family in a foreign land. In her novel “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” Alvarez highlights the challenges of immigration, cultural readjustments and family conflicts.
Both Dumas and Cordero are growing up in a culture that is different from their parents’; this difference is one reason why both girls have a feeling of ‘otherness.’ Even though both girls feel a struggle between their heritage and the American culture they live in, they deal with this struggle in dissimilar ways. Although Cordero does love her family, she feels as though she is trapped by her Mexican heritage. She is surrounded by Mexican-American females who are oppressed, unsatisfied, and often longing for a different life. We get many stories of her grandmother, cousins, and neighbors who are stuck in a place of discontent with no way out; and she does not be part of an endless loop of females who are under the control of men.
As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop when they see Rodriguez. Thi...
One of the basic reasons for the Rivera family to emigrate from Mexico to the North is because America is the only as well as the best choice they have. They choose America to bring their daughter, Maribel- who suffered from a brain damage after an unfortunate accident, because as instructed by the doctors, only in America Maribel might have an opportunity of recovering with the right way of education and effective care for her condition. Many families migrate to the United States from a country half a world away with a desire to change their life to the positive situation which meets their expectations of qualified life elements, such as climate, traffic, education policy and safety; while in this novel, the Rivera family decides to emigrate to America, which is not so far from Mexico. Although the distance between the two countries is not great, America is like a new continent to the Rivera family, when they, as well as any other immigrant families, some of whom are at middle age,
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.
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
John Cheever and F. Scott Fitzgerald are both 20th century writers whose story’s thematically reflected the despair and the emptiness of life. In both story’s “The Swimmer” and “Babylon Revisited” the main characters undergo similar problems, although they are presented differently in each story. The subject matter of both stories, pertain to the ultimate downfall of a man. “The Swimmer”, conveys the story of a man who swims his way into reality. He at first is very ignorant to his situation; however with the passing of time he becomes cognizant to the idea that he has lost everything. In “Babylon Revisited” the key character is a “recovering alcoholic”, who return to his homeland in hope to get his daughter back. However, problems from his past reemerge and deter his attempt to reunite. Ultimately, both stories share rather inconsolable endings with no direct resolution to their troubles.
Their experiences and the journeys of their lives are what most Hispanic teenagers go through. The 10 different stories explain the different themes shown throughout the book. The Hispanic community faces many problems and Diaz states a couple of them: gender, immigration, violence, drugs, family, cultural identity, and the Latino experience. In the beginning, Yunior and Rafa are both ignorant and show signs of hate towards Israel. The story about Ysrael is that when he was a baby, a pig bit him in the face.
The play takes into account the major personalities and characters of Mexican-Americans in history. The Mexican peon, farm worker, pachuco, vato, zoo-suiter, boxer, barrio family, militant student, Vietnam veteran, cowboy-type bandit, and the gringo or "white-washed" Mexican-American are major figures in American history. In the play these figures are "items to be sold." The selling of these f...
As I reflected more and more on Wilson's masterpiece, my anger turned to curiosity instead of my curiosity waning, it grew. I felt like I was unraveling a huge ball of yarn. In a play about family, a million different issues are lived. I was astounded at the number of issues that Wilson touched upon, issues ranging from family relationships, to problems in the workplace, racial tensions, and infidelity. And under each one of these was another, underlying issue, the reason, or the catalyst that enabled these to prevail.
In Maria’s family they are very close to one another, despite the problems that may arise they still remain close. She compared their family dynamics to those in the United States, she states that American families are not as close, which I have to agree. Given an example, the typical American adult is considered legal once they become 18 years old. Some families force their children to move out once they are 18 or they give them verbatim of getting a job or to stay in school. In Maria’s family and other Mexican families being 18 does not mean anything. Their family controls them until they leave house, and only expect the child to move if they get married, go away to college, or find a job far from home. Mexicans have adopted a system that works for their