Have you ever had something happen in your life it made you so happy you still remember? I do. I remember the day my mother made a surprise party for me. She knew that turning fifteen in a Latina's world meant so much. My mother couldn’t afford to do me a Quinceañera- the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America . It is celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks the change from adolescent to young womanhood.A Quinceañera is a celebration in which a girl turns fifteen which in the Spanish speaking countries it is a recognition of her journey from adolescent to young womanhood. It starts out with a religious ceremony. Afterwards comes the reception which is held at home or at a banquet hall. The celebration includes food, music, choreographed dances or waltz (performed by the quinceañera and her court). A court is made up of fourteen people ( seven young girls and seven young men) plus the quinceañera making it fifteen. She wears a ball gown. Normally the gown’s color is chosen to be white or pink but in last few years it has changed as more trends come out. Some dresses are now chosen to be blue, purple, yellow, orange, red, and even black. As I was growing up I started hearing about girls turning fifteen getting ready to plan their parties and inviting people to their quinces. They would say they would get a DJ or a Mexican/ Guatemalan group to come sing at their party. By having one of those groups at your party the party would last till 12 or 1 am, reason is Latino’s love to dance. It is a time of your life that you get so excited were you want to have a unique party, party no other girl has had. It’s sort of like a competition were you get to show off that one special gown. I would say like a wedding. Everything has to be planned perfectly, it’s a big event in a Hispanic girls life. I would just sit there and listen and start imagining myself at my own party with my gown on. At the age of fourteen my father went to jail. Having a quince party without the father is just like loosing a special part to something you are building. I knew he would feel bad for me having a party without him especially my quinces.
I shouldn’t have a quinceanera , what’s so important you turning fifteen having a huge party having a big dress , food , make-up , and hair done . every one turn fifteen and some people don’t make a huge party and go all out just for you turning a age , it’s not a big deal turning fifteen you still a teen you're not an adult yet , your still a kid.
The prose poem “Quinceanera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer can be characterized as being free verse as the poet talks about a young girl’s rite of passage into womanhood. By using a series of various figurative language devices such as diction, imagery, and similes the writer is capable of portraying her observations of people’s despondent feelings towards adulthood which have transcendent upon her poem as she projects the negative essence behind the young girl growing up as she comes in touch with the responsibilities that she will carry with her after she celebrates her Quinceanera.
In Quinceanera, the concept of growing up is surrounded by cultural lies. In Latin culture, the celebration of when a girl turns 15 symbolizes the transition to adulthood. In the poem, we see the narrator showing resistance to the act of growing up. She expresses her emotions by saying, “My dolls have been put away like dead children,” to put away her dolls who are not supposed to be “dead” to her. She needs to move on from any tangible objects that have any
A quinceañera is a Hispanic tradition; however, other cultures and other stages of life have rites of passages very similar, such as a sweet sixteen. This rite-of-passage does not symbolize anything other than turning a year older; therefore, it does not affect a person’s self-identity nearly as much as a quinceañera does. Likewise, a wedding, which was once seen as a religious ceremony, seems to have lost some of its luster. The above two examples are very different, but neither help establish self-identity as well as a quinceañera. This may be because guidelines were never established or the “traditional” way of celebrating is no longer the only way. In addition, both have never, or are no longer, limited because of your gender and there is no spiritual significance attached to either. In the case of the sweet sixteen, while it is most prevalent in the American culture, it is not exclusive to it. On the other hand, quinceañeras are gender specific, do have a religious background attached to them, and are exclusive to one culture, which makes quinces so crucial in forming self identity.
quinceañeras are a tradition for a girl who at the age of 15 becomes a young women. Another example, in the United States Culture theres sweet 16 which is similar to a quinceañera, but in this case a girl becomes a young women at the age of 16. Each culture has their own rituals, traditions, rite of passage that contributes to the development or defines one’s self identity, there’s similarities or differences between the rites of passage, why do only girls receive quinceañeras, and does commercialization of rituals and or rite of passage have an affect on its overall
Do I even want to have a sweet sixteen? I’ve never seen myself as the quintessential “princess”, in a flowing dress and mile high tiara. I could just wait until my eighteenth, then I’d be considered an adult, at least in American society. Do I even want a Quinceanera? It revolves around the church so much it’s practically the sun and the earth. Besides, could I even have a Quinceanera? My family would have to travel all the way to Mexico.
The second family that I interviewed was the Lyles family. Both Bro. Scotty, the father, and Mrs. Yolanda, the mother, participated in the interview and three of their children were in the room. Bro. Scotty was born and raised in Alba, Texas on the very same tree farm that he owns and operates today; he is also a deacon at our church. However, Mrs. Yolanda was born and raised in Guatemala. As a child she was raised Catholic, and is part of a large and growing family. She is one of eight children. Their family as well as anybody else in that culture celebrated their daughter’s 15th birthday with a Quinceañera which marked the transition from childhood to young womanhood. This was traditionally the first time the girls would wear make-up, nice
As a traditional, collectivistic cultural group, the Latino population is believed to adhere deeply to the value of familismo. (Arditti, 2006; Calzada, 2014). Familism is an emphasis on the importance of the family unit over values of autonomy and individualism”. (Santistaben, 2012). Family is considered to be the top priority in the Latino culture. Comparatively, at times, this isn’t true of our busy, work devoted western culture. In western culture we think of our family in a nuclear sense made up of a: mom, dad, and siblings. Conversely, Hispanic culture focuses on the whole extended family including aunts, uncles, grandparent, and cousins. Their culture believes having close connections with the entire extended family benefits the development of their children. The entire family helps the child by giving them differing levels of social and emotional support. (American Home Resolutions,
It takes about six months or a year to make sure that there is enough time to take care of all the social and budgetary logistics. Hispanic families worry about how much money they are going to need, and how they are going to get it. That is when low-income people start to borrow money and spend it on preparations such as booking the event hall and buying the expensive Quinceanera dress. During this time, the unforeseen accidents or illnesses can occur causing an even greater expense. Due to the already accumulating Quinceanera expenses, the family is short of money and that causes them to borrow extra money. It's not worth all those financial problems for just a party. According to Louis Barajas, a Quinceanera is not so important when all that money can be invested in a car, college education, and even a down payment for a house. There are girls that prefer spending that money in a travel or their first car instead of having a Quinceanera, which is a better
The Quinceañera is a celebration in Latin America that is very comparable to our Sweet 16 celebration, also know as the fiesta de quince años. The origination of the word comes from the feminine term of fifteen-year-old in Spanish. The overall celebration marks the transition from childhood to becoming a young woman. In earlier times this celebration was meant to be a teaching point for young women to learn how to cook, weave, and the art of becoming a mother. Depending on the family specifically, some can carry a religious tone, and some can be more traditional and casual.
In the film Quinceañera (2006), it shows controversial issues that Latinos are known to displease including teen pregnancy, being gay, and not conforming to the family’s religion. Carlos, one of the movie’s main characters, has been dishonored and kicked out
Ever since I was young I wanted to have a Quinceanera. I always wanted to wear a long and fluffy dress and a shiny crown on my head. I always saw many girls on t.v or family members have their own Quinceanera, so I decided that I wanted to have mine as well. Quinceanera are family traditions, in Mexico it’s when a young girl is about to become fifteen years old they have a Quinceanera, which represents that you are turning into a young woman.
All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.
The Latinos make up close to 16 percent of the total American population, thus becoming the 2nd largest ethnic community. Just like many other migrant populations, the Latinos seek to keep in touch with their Hispanic traditions and cultures. As Alvarez puts it, children born in the US are thus taught certain cultural events and values so as to maintain their lineage. The most common one as discussed by Alvarez in her book is the quinceañera. This refers to a girl’s celebration as she reaches fifteen. This day of celebration is supposed to mark a girl’s transition from being a child to an adult woman. Among other traditional symbols, these parties are huge and include choreographed dances and ball gowns.
Childhood is the most unforgettable period of my life. Everyone has childhood memories. My childhood memories took place in Eritrea. These memories that are happiest and saddest memories are still in my mind. Sometimes I remember things that have happened in my childhood period and they just make me laugh. Childhood memories can be bad or good, but we can’t forget them. For these reasons, childhood memories are the most important parts of my life. Specifically, also I have some good memories of childhood.