Part II of "How The Garcia Girls'Lost TheirAccents" - Overview

Gasions,In this part of the story, the girls' history is thoroughly explained so that we may be able to assume how the girls' came to be in the previous chapter. This part of the story mostly summarizes the struggle to adapt in America.

The Girls' and the parents adapted in different and similar ways. The Girls' try to fit in by dressing up and trying to forget their native tongue. However, at the same time, they long to go home. They want to be like everybody else and adapt to their culture. For example, Yoyo writes a speech that seems to be offensive to teachers in Papi's view, but in the heated argument Mami explains to Papi that this is America, not the Island. There is freedom of speech in this country, and Mami and Papi disapproves the daughters to use this as an excuse to disobey them, like the Girls' American friends. Mami struggles with inventions that Americanshave already invented. papi struggles to not be the head of the family, due to his little English and little money. They all struggle to fit in between the good and the bad of both countries that is impacting them everyday, from being important in the Island to a nobody in America. But Mami says, "I would rather be an independent nobody, than a high class houseslave."

I begin to see an understanding of both cultures develop in Sandi's view at the Fanning's dinner party. American stereotypes of being better is ceased when she realizes her own cultural dancers are extremely beauiful and talanted. At this moment, she recognizes her own beauty and ignore the harsh stereotypes. Mrs. Fannighs behavior presented a non-perfect side of Americans. Sandi is offended by Mrs. Fannings kiss towards her father and the disruptions she caused the dancers. Sandi sees Mrs. Fannings as one who ruined her culture which leads to Sandi's rude attitude towards her.

In the vignette, "A Regular Revolution", the Girls' have lost their Spanishculture and they have adapted to life in America. They in return have to be forced to visit the Island over the summer. The Spanish culture where womn is less important and superior to men impacted them, especially Fifi, over summer. Why do you think she was influenced so quickly when she had lived in American culture for so long?

Response to Kristine's Garcia Girls Blog Post #1

In Kristine's Blog, she shares her view of Yolanda's innocence. She says:

"Yolanda is described in this vignette that she is very innocent and that she is
very devoted religiously. She has a sense of what is right and what is
wrong and no matter what, will not give into the demands of a boy she
loves if she doesn’t feel right. " 

This post made me think about the term "innocence" which we had discussed in English class today. Innocence is a confusing word itself. Innocence can be defined in many ways. In many books last year, I repeatedly see the loss of innocence as a major topic, from The House On Mango Street, to the The Color Purple, to The Mockingbird, to The Kite Runner, to Macbeth, and now I see it in How the Garcia Girls Loss Their Accents. These stories show me that loosing innocence is a part of life. Many people believe children are the most innocent, maybe because they do not know much of the evils of life. They are shield away from the dangers in life- well, most children are. In the Mockingbird, Scout and Jem are both innocent children that their fathers try to protect from unjust views of men against Blacks. Also, in all of most of these books, sex and rape is exposed to the children that which made them loose their innocence

Innocent may be not knowledgable of the evil face of mankind, not knowlegable of virginity, or have not committed any thing that is wrong. Many books seem to show that children are innocent and adults are not innocent. Children are not all innocent. In the Kite Runner, Amir is guilty of being selfish in his friendship to Amir. I think children are not innocent, they committ various harm. However, that is okay because they are in the process of learning what is right and wrong, which are also hard to define. We all learn from our mistakes and build from that.

However, when the many people in the books were raped, I think they may or may not regain their innocence back. They were forced to this aggressive activity. Therefore, their first impression of sex is this. But they may also regain their innocence if they think of sex a different way when they are grown.

The ability to regaining innocence depends on the way people think and can vary in different situations.

How the Garia Girls Lost their Accents: An Overview of Section One

In the reading of How The Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, by Julia Alvarez, my first impression is that it is boring, from reading the first few pages. There were plenty of confusion, especially in the first to second chapter. There, I had to force myself to read on. I had to keep in mind that the story is in backwards chronological order. The first vinette displayed a scene of Yolanda's arrival, intertwined with many memories, flashbacks, and emotions. This part was very confusing because nothing was explained and there seemed to be many unspoken dramas lingered in the characters' tone. Also, during this part, the author's tone shows how uncomfortable Yolanda was and I anticipated for an explanation for her awkward incounterments with people, especially when the two men who spoke Spanish were trying to help her find her way.

As the story progressed, some things began to clear up and this made the story much more interesting. In "The Kiss", the Garcia family was presented as an extremely close family with a deep past. The relationship between the daughters and Papi is unique. Papi contained a very baised view of keeping the family name golden; therefore, the daughters must marry men with extraordinary backgrounds, which I think is the basis of the conflict. Sophia and Papi seems to have an awkward relationship, and I wonder why.

Throughout the story, mother tells stories of the three girls; stories that made her proud. They also had a color coded system, which caught a bit of attention in the story. I think the author includes these little things in their life because it represents something that would help us identify the characters' personalities, especially Mother's because she was the one who set the system up. I especially did not understand the part where Sandra was thought to be crazy and is experiencing backwards evolution. Also, I don't get the reason why Yolanda left John. What does she mean that they spoke two different languages in literature?

I think the author wrote this book in chronological order because to help us see the difference in how the Garcia girls changed each time.