Garcia Girls, A Disappointment?

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?
• Hint: If your book has an introduction, it's a good place to look for direct clues about the book's intended purpose and good quotes to include in your review.
  For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
  1. What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?
  2. How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?
  • You must include a passage or two from the text if you choose this question.

How the Garcia Girls Lost their accents by Julia Alvarez is somewhat biographical book written in the form of many short stories and separated into 3 different sections, each talking about a different part of the sister's lives. The book starts out in the most recent part of the character's lives and continues on into the earliest parts. It is about the lives of the 4 sisters, and it talks about how their lives were in American, the Dominican Republic, how immigration had changed their lives, and how growing up as immigrants changed the way that they grew up and developed.


Immigration is a controversial topic. I feel that there were a lot of things in Alvarez’s story that talked about immigration and that there are many aftereffects, good and bad. I feel that this book was intended for everyone to read, but to have different affects on different readers. For example, if a regular person that was born a citizen of the country that they were in, they would have much different feelings about the book than that of an immigrant. A non-immigrant would not be able to relate to many of the things that happen in her book, such as the story of Yolanda, her experience in school, how hard it was to learn and speak English, and how painful it is when other kids make fun of your English and tell you to go back home because you are not “one of them”. An immigrant who has children who have experienced this before or were children themselves when they immigrated and experienced it themselves, then know what it feels like to be excluded because of how they talk, act or look. She could have been informing non-immigrants about how it feels like to be someone that does not belong, how much it hurts inside, and how much it changes a person, for better or worse. She also might have been telling the immigrants that they are not the only ones that face this problem and that there are other people that face the same things as them and that they know how they are feeling so they can comfort them. This sort of makes it more appealing to immigrants, because they can actually relate to the book.

I think that a weakness and a strength of this book is the was that it is written. For example, "A high concrete wall continues for about a quarer of a mile." (Pg 14)  We have no idea why having guards and walls are necessary. "Here she comes, Miss America!" Yolanda clasps her brwo and groans melodramatically as expected." (Pg 4) We have no idea if this is a common occurence in the character's life. We also do not know why the cousin is there and what purpose she serves in advancing the story.This is confusin because we have no background information of the main characters yet. "No, no senorita, Nuesto placer." (Pg 21)We have no idea what the Spanish words mean. Right now, I can assume from the context that it is a statement to deny and payment from being received, but then we do not know why the guards do not want any payment. She wrote this book in a complicated format, where you start reading in the end or most recent part of the character’s lives, but as you read, you slowly go farther and farther into the younger years of the characters. I think that this is a strength because it lets the reader find things out on their own and they can come to their own conclusions of the book with out someone telling them what they have to get from the book and what they have to know. This is also kind of exciting because all of the things are found out by you, so you have a sense of accomplishment from doing things on your own. I feel that this is a weakness however because this may be confusing for some people. Some people may be unused to this kind of writing however, because not a lot of people have read books like this before. This makes it harder for some people to understand, and it may annoy some people. This was true such as when our whole class read it. A lot of the the people in my group did not understand the book, so they did not enjoy reading all of it. This made the book a chore to read, and no one likes to do chores, so we missed a lot of details because we treated it as a chore.

This may have also confused so many people so much that they had no idea what was going on in the book. I for know, know that in the beginning of the book, I had no idea because the structure was so confusing. I was told that the book would get easier to understand the further you went into the book, but while I was reading the first part, I did not understand much. For example, when they were talking about the sister's past, and how their past had affected what they were like in the present, such as how one of the sisters had been kicked out of their home. "But the father kept to his revenge. For months no one could mention the daughter's name in his presence, though he kept calling them all Sophia and quickly corrected himself. When the daughter's baby girl was born, the mother put her foot down." (Pg.32) The girl had wanted to make things up with their father, but I had no idea what she wanted to make up to him, because I did not know what had happened, all I knew was that their father was angry at her and did not want to see her again, I found out later in the middle part of the book that their father was angry at her because she had fallen in love with a foreign man that their father did not know and did not approve of, so he threw her out. I feel that the structure makes it satisfying when you read along, because it gives more and more details to what had happened in the past the further you read, which is a good thing about the structure of the book. It is so confusing in the beginning of the book, because the beginning of the book is the conclusion of her life, which makes it seem like the conclusion of the book, people may give up reading the book after a couple of pages or chapter.

I began to want to stop reading the book because I did not understand what was going on, who the characters were, and what the story was about. However, since I had to keep going on and on, I eventually found out the good points of the book, and that was exciting and made it satisfying to keep reading and to finish the book. The end of the book was also interesting because it summed up the entire book after talking about the beginning of the girls's lives. It made the book seem as if it were a cycle, that it was never ending. This was as interesting book, it may have annoyed people to read it, and it may have made some people angry, but it was a satisfactory read, and I am glad that I read it.

Garcia Girls Reflection 3

I felt that this part of the book was kinda of scary. I felt that this was true because when Yolanda went to the female artist to go and develop her artistic talents, she ended up meeting with a crazy sculptor that could not sculpt the face of a statue of the Virgin Mary. He ended up scaring Yolanda and she ended up breaking her arm. I felt that this was kind of scary because it is not often that you see a naked man chained to a wall straddling a inanimate statue in your life. It was probably something that affected her for a long time. It would have also affected her for a long time because she ended up seeing the statue of the Virgin Mary later on in a festival or a celebration with her own face on it.

It was also scary because of the Dominican Republic police that wanted to convict her family of some crime. They would go into her house and scare all of the residents because of what they represented to the family. Apparently, the secret police suspected her family of being rebels and suspected them of doing something “illegal” to the country, so “treason”. Their father was so scared of them that he ended up building a small chamber in his house that he can hide in when they show up. Whenever they would come and visit his house, he would hide in the chamber and get another family member to cover for him while he was gone.

When they were escaping the Dominican Secret Police to go to the United States, Yolanda was almost raped by one of the Secret Police Agents. This probably scarred her for life even if she only remember bits and pieces of it. This was a traumatic event in her life, and probably changed her irrevocably.

All of the events that happened early on in her life seemed to be traumatizing and they all seemed to have negative effects on her life and her as a person. This kind of amazes and shocks me because I find it unbelievable that people could have so many bad things happen to them and they can come of it for better or for worse.

Response to Drugs

This is something interesting that I found at Andy's blog:

   Drugs aren't good for the body. They can give you cancer or make you crave for more. But why do people consume the drugs in the first place? Sugar is a drug, but it gives flavor into our food and not harmful unless consumed in large amounts. Caffeine, which can be found in coffee and Coca Cola, is an addictive drug, but it helps keep the body awake, which some people need. But drugs like cocaine, mariguana, and cigarettes are even more harmful and addictive, so why even begin to use them?   Drugs aren't good for the body. They can give you cancer or make you crave for more. But why do people consume the drugs in the first place? Sugar is a drug, but it gives flavor into our food and not harmful unless consumed in large amounts. Caffeine, which can be found in coffee and Coca Cola, is an addictive drug, but it helps keep the body awake, which some people need. But drugs like cocaine, mariguana, and cigarettes are even more harmful and addictive, so why even begin to use them?

I feel that what Andy says is true, but only parts of it are true. When he talks about illegal drugs, what he is saying is true, because they were outlawed in the first place because they were too addictive, and they ruined people's lives. Also, when he talks about the legal drugs that we consume, it is only partly true because the government is supposed to limit the quantity that you consume so that you will not get addicted to it and ruin your lives from it.

When he talks about drugs in general however, I feel that he does not know enough about other drugs to be taking his position about drugs in general. I say this because there are legal drugs that you can take for certain problems within your body.For example, you take Tylenol, which is a drug, for certain problems within your body. For example, you take it if you have a fever, if you are sick, etc. There are also other drugs that doctors prescribe to you in order to treat some problems within your body. Those prescribed drugs are still drugs, which he considers "bad: but they can be taken for good effects in your body. I feel that drugs are neither good or bad, but it depends on how you use the drugs and what you use the drugs for. If you are using  it for recreational purposes, or if you are using it to treat certain ailments in your body.

Response to The Future

This is something interesting that I found on Shiyun's blog:

 What does future mean? What is the future that awaits us all? I have been thinking about my future recently and thought that there is no answer to what that will await me. There is no way I would know what my future will be like, for I have to decide that myself. For every decision that I make in life, there will be a result to things. No one can really change what they have done or go back to the past and start over again. We will also have to look at the road ahead and make better decisions.

This was interesting to me because I feel that a lot of people think about their futures during this period of their life. Right now, I feel that there are a lot of people right now within my age group that are thinking about their futures, and are wondering what will happen to them in the future. Such as, will I pass this class? Will I get into this college? etc etc. I feel that these sort of worries are sometimes stressful and somewhat annoying because they stress you out and they start getting annoying after a while. I feel that it is sometimes important however, because it reminds you of your goals in life and it keeps you in your "road to your goals" and it makes it so that you will never seem to lose your goals in life and so that you will never seems like an aimless person in life that just drifts around.

  There are something that I really regretted. Things that I feel that I should have done better, but there is no turning back. I have to create a new future and everything is depended on what decisions that I make.

Some times I feel that there are some things that I have done in my life that I really regret that I wish I could take back. This feeling annoys me sometimes because it makes me somewhat depressed because I start thinking about the things that I could have done differently and I get regretful when I think about what "could" have happened.

Garcia Girls Reflection 2

I felt that the second part of the How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents was interesting, but somewhat messed up. It started off interesting, because it talked about the time period in the United States where there were a lot of hippies and drugs were not as restricted as they are now. 

Also there was a lot of racial tension between the Americans and the immigrants that had just arrived from the own country to the united states. I felt that it was messed up because they were being mean to someone just because they could not speak English properly because it was not their first language, and I know how that feels because English is not my first language either. If you grow up speaking a certain language and then you suddenly have to learn another one, then it is extremely hard because every language has different words and different ways of pronouncing each word. I dislike it when people make fun of how someone talks because they are not used to speaking in another language and are more used to speaking in their native language. 

This part of the book was also creepy because of the child molester that stalked kids in cars and targeted little kids that were alone. I felt that he had scarred Yolanda for life and that he was someone that should not be left in the streets. He acted creepily to Yolanda, and I think that he gave her a bad impression of American men and that he was one of the many bad examples of males in her life. 

I think that she has a bad impression of the police and that general branch of the government. I feel that was because she still remembers the times in the Dominican republic where the police were bad people that should be avoided at all costs because of they could and would do to you if they found you guilty of something. It was kind of sad because law enforcement is supposed to be something that kept you safe and gave you a sense of security in your life, not destroy your sense of security and make you feel threatened.

Response to Free write"jay's quiz"

I found something.......interesting..... on Peter's Blog:

  That is the basic of what the action potential does. On the quiz, there is one big section of filling the balances. This is a section which Ms. Ronit gave us a whole paragraph, and she left some balances for us to complete the whole process of the Action poential. Above the whole paragraph, Ms. Ronit put " The story of a Nerve Impulse" which describes how the whole procce that the neurontransmitters sent to the axon terminal. All in all, the full procce is talking about how the nerve impulses sent to the brains like when we touch, and feel the temprature of something, the impulses would sent to the brain in order to tell you move away your hands from something is damaging you. However, at the 4th side of the quiz, there is a short-answer question which asks: what is the name or tittle for that figgure? Jay Pan, the funnest sophmore I have ever seen, he wrote: The story of a Nerve Impulse"-- he was just copying the third page of the figgure for the fill in balance question, and the tittle is nothing to the question for the short answer!

I feel that this is very biased and unfair against me! I did not do anything wrong.... I think......  All I did was guess on a test answer because I did not know the answer, other people do that too! Just because "I" made a dumb mistake does not mean that I have to be flamed for it! Though he compliments me later on in his post, I still feel wronged and I demand restitution! I can not be blamed for making a dumb mistake that anyone can make if they are bored, tired, and / or lazy enough. Hopefully, no one else will read his post and know any more of what I did, because I know that a lot of my friends have already seen it and commented about how dumb a mistake it was. I do not really have high hopes in people not reading it and I feel that it is a lost cause.  I feel better because I know that this is just joke, I think...... and that he doe not really mean anything by this. I was just kidding in my post however, and you do not have to trust anything that I have said because I just writing things and I did not mean anything with them. I really do not care that he did this, but I am kind of glad because I now have something to respond to. Also, Mr. Sutherland, if you read this and think if is bs, please count this as a blog post.

Response to Freewrite: ShiYun's evilness

I found this interesting topic on Phuong's blog:

  This blog is dedicated to Shi Yun. Of course, you would think that I would say how nice she is and how friendly she is but I’m going to say the opposite: I’m writing about how EVIL she is (with her permission). Not to be mean, but everyone must be aware of her. She may look innocent and quiet, but that is only to hide her evil side. Her evilness started last year, where she slips with her “innocent” image. She began to show her evil thoughts toward her friends. She also began to develop many contagious “diseases”.

I felt that this was something that was kind of interesting and was kind of funny. I would have never thought of her that way if someone had no told me about it. I used to think of Shiyun the way that Phuong described, innocent and quiet. However, looking at what Phuong have said about her and what other people said about her,  believe that my opinion of her is changing. Now, I think of her of her a less innocent person and more as a person that can hide what they are really feeling and/or thinking inside.
Also, Shiyun, I'm sorry if this sounds mean, I'm not trying to bash you. =D

Her first disease was the Typo Disease.Her second disease is the Mispronunciation Disease. Her third disease is the Sighing Disease.

I felt that this is actually something that I see often in some of the people that she interacts with, and her friends. For example, when I talk to Phuong now, she will mispronounce some of the words that she says, sighs a lot, and when I talk to her online, she has typos too. I feel that this is interesting and something to be feared. I feel that this is something to be feared because I feel that Phuong has spread it to me. For example, when I type things, such as for an essay or in a conversation, I have a lot of typos and it annoys me because I have to go back and fix them. Also, when I talk now, I feel that I sigh a lot now, and it is annoying me because I feel that it is something unnecessary that I have to do.

Garcia Girls Reflection 1

I think that the authors purpose in this story was to show how the lives of immigrant Americans are different from the lives of regular Americans that were born here. I can sort of tell because she describes the lives of her and her sisters after they arrived in America. She talks about how America has changed them, and how different they seem from when they had first arrived from the Dominican Republic. I also feel that they have had a lot of bad luck in their lives. They have had a lot of bad relationships, and they have a lot of bad luck with the men that they choose. For example, Yolanda has had a lot of bad breakups and a lot of bad relationships with men. She also went crazy, got sentenced to a crazy house, and still managed to fall in love with a doctor working there. She had also previously gotten into a marriage with a man named John. She felt unsure when they had gotten married, and they eventually broke up. They had started out loving each other, but they eventually drifted further and further apart. They broke up when she found out that he had to make a list to decide whether or not to marry her. She also met this man named Rudy while in college. He seemed nice at first, but it turned out that he only went to her because he wanted to have sex with her. He spent a couple of months with her, and they had also written a pornographic manuscript with her. They grew very close, but then broke apart when Yolanda found out. Also, five years later, Rudy showed up at Yolanda’s house again, with a bottle of champagne, and all he said to her was “It looks like you’ve gotten over your old hangups, so Jesus Christ, lets just fuck.” I feel that this was one of the many parts of her life where men have really messed with her, and where she has had her feelings trampled on over and over. Sadly, this may not be the only time where such a jerk does that to her and messes her life and feelings up.