I finally made it to the second paper clip; it’s such a relief to know I’m two thirds done with the book. Part II of How the García Girls Lost their Accents was much easier to read than the first part. I understand the way Julie Alvarez writes much better, and am able to comprehend what she tries to say in each vignette.
I was extremely surprised at how much Fifi (Sofía) changed in the six months that she stayed on the Island. She was so independent and willing to talk back to others, and was in complete control of her own life, but after she stayed there, and her three sisters visited her three months later, she changed so much. She seemed a lot more picky when they all give her a hug, and warns them not to mess her hair, which she used to never say. Also, when her sisters see Manuel, and greet him with kisses and hugs, Fifi grows kind of defensive and tells them to get off of him since he was hers, although it wasn’t completely serious and the sisters didn’t stop. She begins to lose a bit of her trust in her sisters and begins to grow withdrawn and watchful from her sisters’ flirtations with Manuel, and I think that a part of her reminds herself about her sisters’ habits, and she is a bit afraid that they might take Manuel away from her, making it seem like she lost her support branch in the Island to her sisters.
I was most surprised by Fifi when Manuel took the book she was reading right from her hands, and tells her that she shouldn’t be reading books since they were bad for her and she had more important things to do. When Fifi talks back to him, the sisters, like me, were glad that the old Fifi they knew was beginning to emerge again, but when he walks out, she calls him and pleads for his forgiveness, and it seems like she has completely been lost to the culture and the world that she has stayed in for half a year.
In our group discussion in class today, Nawara asked us what we thought about why Mami stopped inventing things after Yoyo’s (Yolanda’s) success in poetry. I think that Mami stopped inventing things like she at one point did somewhat obcessively, because she did not have any support from her family, especially from Yoyo, who questions her and asks her what the point of inventing was. She showed that she didn’t see any purpose or meaning in what Mami was doing when she invented things, so Mami lost a bit of her enthusiasm for inventing. Also, with Yoyo’s success, Mami is less interested in taking time to think about things to invent, and much more interested in finding more people that she can brag her daughter’s success to.
Even though the book isn’t too bad, I hope that the next book we read will not be in vignettes (I thought the last one we would read would be House on Mango Street, but apparently not.), and not in reverse chronological order (it makes it more confusing when putting the story together and trying to understand what happened in which order).
I was extremely surprised at how much Fifi (Sofía) changed in the six months that she stayed on the Island. She was so independent and willing to talk back to others, and was in complete control of her own life, but after she stayed there, and her three sisters visited her three months later, she changed so much. She seemed a lot more picky when they all give her a hug, and warns them not to mess her hair, which she used to never say. Also, when her sisters see Manuel, and greet him with kisses and hugs, Fifi grows kind of defensive and tells them to get off of him since he was hers, although it wasn’t completely serious and the sisters didn’t stop. She begins to lose a bit of her trust in her sisters and begins to grow withdrawn and watchful from her sisters’ flirtations with Manuel, and I think that a part of her reminds herself about her sisters’ habits, and she is a bit afraid that they might take Manuel away from her, making it seem like she lost her support branch in the Island to her sisters.
I was most surprised by Fifi when Manuel took the book she was reading right from her hands, and tells her that she shouldn’t be reading books since they were bad for her and she had more important things to do. When Fifi talks back to him, the sisters, like me, were glad that the old Fifi they knew was beginning to emerge again, but when he walks out, she calls him and pleads for his forgiveness, and it seems like she has completely been lost to the culture and the world that she has stayed in for half a year.
In our group discussion in class today, Nawara asked us what we thought about why Mami stopped inventing things after Yoyo’s (Yolanda’s) success in poetry. I think that Mami stopped inventing things like she at one point did somewhat obcessively, because she did not have any support from her family, especially from Yoyo, who questions her and asks her what the point of inventing was. She showed that she didn’t see any purpose or meaning in what Mami was doing when she invented things, so Mami lost a bit of her enthusiasm for inventing. Also, with Yoyo’s success, Mami is less interested in taking time to think about things to invent, and much more interested in finding more people that she can brag her daughter’s success to.
Even though the book isn’t too bad, I hope that the next book we read will not be in vignettes (I thought the last one we would read would be House on Mango Street, but apparently not.), and not in reverse chronological order (it makes it more confusing when putting the story together and trying to understand what happened in which order).
No comments:
Post a Comment