Drown: A Consideration Essay

According to Diaz’s writing, to be a man one must have intimidating and bold characteristics, otherwise society might not accept him as a man. In the case of the unnamed narrator in “Drown,” being raped by another man completely de-emasculated him. As his characters’ experiences in his writing resembled his experiences in real life, the

     “The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you.”(Diaz)

The story is narrated in the first person by Yunior, the story's main protagonist.Thus far, we have been discussing the inner

Having read Sandra Cisneros’s “Eleven” numerous times, and having taught it to young readers for the analysis of figurative language and characterization nearly as many times as I have read the short story, I anticipated writing this assignment with ease, mailing it in, in truth. For this reason, I put off the task, reluctant to mail anything in, as that is not my nature. Then I re-read “Eleven” and my synapses were electrified; I remembered a reading from a course on cultural rhetoric I took last summer, Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua. “Eleven” had new meaning for me; it was like finding another layer of the onion, another ring in the exposed stump of a tree, another doll inside the smallest nesting doll.

The Spanish Roulette is a fictional account of events in the life of a young Puerto Rican named Sixto who swears to avenge for his sister’s assault. According to the story, Sixto’s sister had been raped by a local gang member who Sixto assures must suffer the same pain as his sister before he can finally kill him. Evidenced by the story, Sixto fights the thought of killing his sister’s tormentor while loading his revolver, but finally, snaps and decides to go ahead with his plan thereby leaving any logic and moral reasoning not to kill the gang member. The author, Ed Vega’s epic account of the life of Sixto closely resembles his first-person account of the life in Puerto Rico where the street is controlled by gang members who could rob from innocent families, handle drugs and unauthorized weapons including guns, and go about their business without being interfered by people in the community or the police (Lee). This essay asserts that based on the author’s argument and character representation, revenge is the only hope for the weak in the face of trouble when even the society cannot intervene and this argues that Ed Vega proved as creative and a competent writer by using the various features of poetic writing to create the intended image, environment, characters, and build on the theme of revenge.

　　Natalie Diaz's debut collection, When My Brother Was An Aztec, is a book of poems that accounts Diaz's skills in imaginative and lyrical language. The collection explores her past in unexpected form and images, tackling the subjects of her family, most notably her meth addicted brother, life on the reservation, and being a Native American woman. In this collection Diaz has filled the pages with rich and interesting images that rely on Native American culture, experiences of her own as a Native American woman, and mythology. As I read this collection I was struck by how heavy her images rested on the page and yet how weightless they seemed to fly off.

Junot Diaz displays in his short story “Fiesta” how an abusive father can cause a family

Growing up poor in the Dominican Republic strongly influenced the choices Yunior makes later in his life. In “Aguantando” Yunior recalls about how poverty was a part of his life. Díaz writes, “We were poor. The only way we could have been

- Drown Eight Sentence Paragraph- Thesis Statement: The boys (Yunior) didn't tell their mother about Ramone’s (the father) infidelity because they didn't want their father to leave them again, they wanted their family to be together. Yunior felt as though it was not right to tell his mom about his father unfaithfulness because even though he knew his father’s cheating wasn't a good thing. Yunior is a loving person, even though his father does the things he does still forgives him and hopes he comes back to the family and shows the love and affection he (as in Yunior) was meant to have. Yunior thinks to himself in many occasions that Ramone (Yunior and Rafa dad) still felt as that his father had a deep love for his family.

Collectively, these literary images go to describe a young ethnic man, probably of Latin descent, who lives with his mother in a poverty stricken area. The careful recitation of instruction given to the younger man seems to demonstrate an intricate knowledge the narrators has accrued from both predecessors and experience. Singularly, this part of the story is very powerful in that it shows a young man having to hide who he is and where he comes from in an effort to seem appealing to women, and speaks volumes about the deception that both genders go through all in name of the chase.

One thing all human beings have in common is the struggle for self identity. Children are raised by parents or guardians who have struggled and fought for their own identities. In many cases, parents are still trying to figure it out, while raising their own children. Such is the case with the characters in Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The theme of identity is conveyed through the characters’ Dominican culture, social standing, and in finding love. Oscar, Lola, and Yunior are three central characters in Oscar Wao, who’s Dominican cultural and familial expectations were major obstacles as they struggled to establish their identity.

To practice machismo, also known as masculinity in a Dominican culture, males have to hide their flaws and act a certain way. If men express their un-masculine nature, they will be seen as expressing their weakness. In Drown written by Junot Díaz, contains many stories about Dominican Republic male struggles as an immigrant in America. One of the struggles Díaz expresses in his text is appearing masculine in society’s eyes. From the story “Drown”, the unnamed narrator expresses what it means to be masculine. “Boyfriend” is a story about another unnamed narrator observing his neighbor’s relationship, and comparing it to his own past. Yunior, the narrator of the story “Negocios”, explains the history of his father Papi, also known as Ramón. Society creates many definitions for what it means to be masculine, leading the narrator from “Drown”, the narrator from “Boyfriend”, and Ramón struggling to choose between doing what they want for themselves, or do what society wants to see.

Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving but Drowning” is a short poem consisting of only twelve lines; however, understanding it is not as easy as it looks because it contains so many factors that make the poem very ambiguous. Smith employs two contradictory tones ironically in the same poem to represent the internal conflict that the speaker is suffering. The poem’s central metaphor of calling out for help while drowning but being misunderstood as waving indicates that this conflict stems from the miscommunication between the speaker and the society. In public, the speaker fakes a bright and lively personality even though inside, he is feeling isolated and lonely. Smith accentuates the importance of personal and

Camilla, Arturo, Sammy, Vera and Hellfrick are all non-entities in the bustle of L.A. culture, but all are profoundly human in their suffering, confusion, and vices. All are battling a poor sense of self-worth and struggling to survive in an indifferent world. Arturo Bandini takes us through this story in intimate first-person, exposing us to his mood swings, his astute observations and his growth as an author and a man.

Childhood drowning is the leading cause of death from unintentional injury. It has also been reported that in US, childhood drowning is the second leading cause of death among 1-19 years of children and adolescents (Brenner et.al, 2001).