The Garcia Girls Essay

When I Finished reading the book “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, I realized that the story is similar to many of those I have heard from other immigrants. It reminded me of my dad, who always tells us stories about immigrants at the table during dinner time. My dad is an Immigration attorney and he works for the government, and he always tells me and my family about his cases. The one reason I hear my dad always talk about why people come to the United States is for shelter because their country is not safe enough for them. That is what happens in this book.

It initially begins with one of the members of the Garcia family. Carlos is the first person of the family to come to the United Sates trying to escape from danger. The SIM or The Secret Police from the Dominican Republic are looking for him because he had a gun under his possession and he plotted against the Dominican government. He had to come to the United States because he did not feel safe in the Dominican Republic by being wanted by the Dominican Secret Police. He comes to the United States safely and then once immigrants get here, they usually say that their families are not safe back home either so they bring them too.

After Carlos comes, his family follows and that is normally how immigration works. After the family adjusts to the American culture, their lives change, as well as their personalities. The Dominican culture is greatly different from the American culture. In the book, it seems that when the Garcia girls come and get used to living in the United States, they lose their innocence. In the Dominican Republic they were these humble people and innocent, hidden from sins, but when they come, that changes. They lose their innocence in different ways; some of them start thinking of sexual activities as a game and also that they forget about where they come from. One of the most important things an immigrant should always consider is not forgetting the place they come from.

Me for example, as an immigrant coming from a total different place, I know exactly where I come from and what the differences of here and there are. I know what the two cultures are about and I know that I cannot leave either one behind. The two cultures are what shape me now.

This book seems to be written in a way that mostly interests Latin American people or Hispanics. The title captures the readers’ minds and especially for those who speak Spanish. Just by reading the title, “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, the reader can say that it might be about Latin Americans because it includes the words, “Garcia” and “Accent”. When I read the title, I instantly knew that it would be about Latin Americans. The title absorbs a great number of Spanish speaking audience.

The actual book is written in a way a Spanish speaking person would understand much more than a person who does not speak Spanish would. The book contains little words or phrases that are written in Spanish and that may confuse a reader that does not understand them.  That can change the meaning of the book for different people. For example, for Spanish Speakers, who might have a deeper understanding of the book, it could mean something and for those that do not speak Spanish might understand a different meaning. This might be a cause why the most part of the number of people that read books like this one are Spanish speakers. Also, the topic of “immigration” is interesting for immigrants and might not be as interesting for others that are not immigrants. 

Another thing that might change the meaning of the book might be the fact that not all the audiences are immigrants. Julia Alvarez might have written this book from an immigrant’s point of view. It is easier for those that are immigrants to understand or to get what the meaning behind this story is, especially for those who immigrated to the United States for the same reason this family did, or for a similar reason; they might feel connected to the story. On the other hand, those readers that are not immigrants try to understand a little more while the immigrants just hear a similar story to theirs.  That is another disadvantage of this book.

The meaning of the book can be determined depending on the reader’s own experience or knowledge about the subject.

Another weakness is that it is not written in the order of the events; it begins with the present and it ends with the beginning. That causes confusion for the readers. The reader gets lost in the beginning of the book, is not until they read the middle part of the book that things start to become more clear. At the beginning, everything is confusing and a lot of questions pop up in the reader’s mind, questions such as, “why are they there?” or “how did they end up being like this?”. Questions that are not answered until the middle and end parts are read.

What if the book had been written in the order of the events, from the beginning to the present? Had that changed the meaning of the book? Maybe Julia Alvarez wanted to write the book the way she did to give it a specific meaning different from the meaning or meanings it would have if it was written in order of events. Everything from this book must have its purpose.

Julia Alvarez wrote this book to share with her Hispanic community and the rest of the world a story that happens to many immigrants from all around the world. She expresses herself in a way that her community can understand better than other readers, and she organizes her book in a confusing way that becomes clear until it is completely read. The book itself has or can have different meanings depending on the reader and that is one of the things Alvarez

How the Garcia girls lost their accents final reflection.

Now that I have gotten to te end of the book, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez, it is more clear to me what the big idea of the book is. I think that what Julia Alvarez is trying to tell us, the readers is that when the Garcia girls came to the United States, they lost their innocence. The big changes in their lives caused dramatic changes in their personalities.
The first part of the book was really confusing. I could not understand anything. Once I got to the second part, it was easier to understand a little more than the first part. I could see the difference in time in the story by then. Finally, when I started reading the third part of the book, it all connected and started to make sense. I started to notice what the pattern was. How it all began. What was that caused the Garcia girls to end up being different women with much different personalities when living in the United States than when they lived in the Dominican Republic. What impressed me by the end of the book, which was actually the beginning of the story (The past) was that it sent the reader back to the beginning of the book, which was actually the ending of the story (The present) and it was like it started all over again.
The idea of them losing their innocence when their lives change is because I noticed the way they lived in the Dominican Republic an compared it with the way the lived in the United States. It seems like there are humble girls back home and when they come here, they become rebellious. I think that they weren't mentally ready to chug their lives in such a way. Being taken away from their home land was unexpected.
I was wondering what the title has to do with the actual story and I thought two things; the "accents" on the title represents "innocence" or the title actually means that the Garcia girls forget about their culture and become part of another society. I thought that the title could mean either one.
I was also wondering if the book had been written in a normal way, meaning from the beginning of the story to the end, or from past to present, if the meaning of the book had still been the same.
This book was really confusing. I thought this book was good though, the ending was much better than te beginning because it was easier to understand.

Response to "dogs"

The tittle "dogs" caught my eyes. I though right away, "I love dogs!" and I was like :D .
I liked Cindy's post a lot. I like how your dog plays soccer with her food! :)

dogs are cool. i like dogs. dogs are fluffy and warm and hairy and their breath stinks sometimes. they have a wet nose and it moves when they sniff stuff. they have whiskers that stick out. they have a tail and cute ears and 4 feet and paws. their paws smell like doritos. i love dogs. dogs are everything. dogssssssssssssss~~~

I love dogs too. Dogs are my favorite animal. I once had 2 dogs. One of them died when he was old, a car drove over him and killed him :( his name was Pilín.
My other dog, she is crazy. She has a twin. She is my favorite animal. Her name is Banana. Much like Cindy's case, I did not name her that. But I still like the name. I have not seen Banana in a year and a half. She lives in Honduras and she is a Dalmatian. She is crazy.she goes around the house running all the time, when she is hungry, she puts her paws on someone. I stalely stretch my hand put and tell her to give me her paw, and she puts her paw on my hand. It's really cool. Well, when she is really happy. She lays down and she opens her legs wide open and she pees!! I saw if happen twice. She was so flag to see my cousin she hadn't seen for a few years and when she saw my cousin, she recognized her and she laid on the grass and opened her legs and peed in the air. It was nasty but funny. Other tha that, Banana plays soccer. She is really good. Even though she destroyed all of my soccer balls I still love her. She also destroyed shoes. We could not leave shoes outside because shed take them to her house and bite them. I liked to get her mad. She didn't like it when I messed with her tummy so I would mess with it and shed almost bite me. I liked seeing her mad. She only bit me once but I deserved it. I love that dog. I talked to her. I seriously talked to banana. I would have conversations with her and I'd tell her I love her, which is true. I have never loved an animal so much.
It was also fun to give her a shower because she hates showers. We had to hold her between 3 people to get her wet. She is like a cat. After she is all clean, she instantly starts running looking for the sun. She sits with her legs opened wide and doesn't like to be disturbed when she is drying off.
I miss Banana, and if she could talk, I would call her right now. I am hoping to see her this Christmas. ...ahh, I love Banana, and I miss Pilín and love him too. Dogs are the best!

Music

I love music. I am always listening to music. Every day I listen to hours of music. In fact, I'm listening to music right now. I don't know how my life would be without music. It would probably be boring. I am not the kind of person that plays instruments, but I am the kind that listens to the music. I listen to all kinds of music. Different rhythms, different languages, different artists. I like lots of music. The music makes me happy.
Music connects me to myself. When I listen to music I get sucked into it. I start imagining things that go with the song I'm listening to. For example, if I am in a car traveling on the freeway, I love to listen to my music and nothing else. Sometimes I hear my brother or anyone talking and I turn the volume on my iPod higher but then I see my mom is telling me to turn it down. I love listening to my music as loud as possible, and I do it even though I know it is really bad for my ears. So I listen to music in the car, and as I look out the window, I connect the song I'm listening to, to what I am looking at or thinking about. I usually pick the song that I think would math the mood though. I always do that when I travel.
Even if I walk down the street to the other block, I plug my ear phones in. Music is attached to me. I also listen to music when I'm on the bus. I take the bus to school, so I listen to music on my 15-20 minute bus ride. I practically listen to music whenever I can. When I am alone, music must be with me!
The only exception of listening to music loudly is when I read. I think that when I read, listening to music helps me concentrate on what I'm reading because the music I play when I read is usually slow and low. I just hear low beats as I read. I think that's cool.
Music is and will always be a part of my life. Music is what brings me memories of things. When I listen to a song, it reminds me of a special moment usually. Not all songs but some. I just don't know what my life would be like without any music...

Losing your identity.

This second part of the book was much easier to read. The events that happened seemed more clear to me and some of the things that happened hooked me a little more into this book.
A lot if things happen, but I think that one if the most important ones is that The family in the Dominican Republic does does not want the 4 girls to forget where they come from. This happens almost with every immigrant family that comes to the United States to start a new life. The girls's family back in the Dominican Republic and their parents do not want them to become new people and to forget about them. They want them to continue their lives in a different, better and safer place with more opportunities, but they don't want them to change the way they are.
I think that the reason why this happens in a lot of families when they come to this country is that culture is a big thing that cannot be left behind. I know from experience that people back home want the people who are here to succeed but the don't want them to change. They don't want them to change because that could cause a gap in between their relationships.
The number one reason people cone to this country is for better and safer lives. Sometimes, people can't have good lives in their own country. The 4 Dominican girls came here fir a better and safer life. The only thing their family asks in return is to not forget where they come from, who their people are, and who they really are. Culture is a big thing. Traditions and memories are part of culture.
For example, I know and I am always told by my family back home that they don't want me to become a new person. They want me to be the same guy. Even though my it is not something I believe I can do, I always think about it. I don't think most people are able to not change; living here just makes you a different person. Makes you like every one else here. It happens naturally. I do know that some people are able to be the same way they were back in their country. I don't think those are the kind of people the 4 girls are. The girls seem to become more Americanized as they grow older.
Losing someone's culture is losing their real identity. The girls become new people in the United States and the Dominican Republic becomes a forgotten little island isolated from the world.

There are too many distractions!!

One of the biggest problems I have is getting distracted when I am trying to focus on something important. It doesn't matter why is is. Everytime I do homework, when I draw, when I study, when I try to clean my room. There are always distractions.
When I am at school, I always get distracted and that is because I stet talking. Most if the time I am quiet and I pay attention, but when I get distracted, it's hard to focus back on my work.
Then I get home, and I am usually tired, wishing I could go to bed right away. I count how many hours I have until I have to go to bed and then I think about how much homework I have and then I predict how long it'll take me to finish all of it or if I will have to wake up early in the morning to finish it. Most of the time I have more than enough time to finish all my homework before 9pm or 10pm. I just get so distracted. One of the distractions I have is Facebook. I go on it everyday and it's hard for me to stop using it because like I talked about on my other post, it is addictive. So I spend some time on facebook, but not like before. I have learned to use it in a moderate way. Also, I start playing videogames. If it was up to me, I wouldn't do any homework and just come home and play all afternoon and night until I go to bed. But I also get distracted just by staring into space. I just lay on my bed and think. I stare at things for minutes and minutes and I waste a lot of time by doing that.
When I draw, I am usually sitting down on a desk, and half way through the drawing I get bored and just sit there for a while, not doing anything.
I get distracted a lot when I study. BecYse I try to memorize stuff without looking at the actual thing I'm learning the stuff from, I have to look away and try to think about that thing. When I do thy, I get lost sometimes because I often start to think about other stuff. I start thinking about anything else, and then I get bored. I start forgetting what I study and it all goes bad. Even small things such as a pen are distracting. I start playing with the pen as throwing it in the air, and that takes time. That time is wasted.
I always get distracted when I do things daily. I procrastinate a lot and I want to stop doing it. I need to manage my time better.

Response to Tiffany Cao's post: "Words that looks simple, but actually sophisticated"

I started reading Tiffany's post, and I realized that she talks about something I also thought a lot about in class. I was actually in Tiffany's group and we could not come up with a solid definition of "innocence". My personal opinion about innocence was that it cannot be really defined. There are too many ways that innocence is described as by different kinds of people. Sometimes the differences in culture determine what innocence is. But innocence cannot be defined only one way. The general idea of innocence is one who is free of sins, but who knows what is good and what us bad? How do we determine what is right and what is wrong? It depends on the people. All people think different and that causes the different ways they see innocence. Some people might think some things can be acts of innocence while others could think those same actions are bad acts that destroy innocence. Innocence is a universal idea that means different things to different people, and can be shown in different ways.

. What is innocence? First, I thought it meant the avoidance of moral wrong. As I tell my table mates about what I thought. Soon, I asked myself what is wrong? What is right? Then what in the world does innocence mean? We began to think it out, but we had no explanation nor definition of the word, "innocence."

Tiffany also compares the meaning of the word "innocence" and the meaning of the word "love" and how they are interpreted. Tiffany, I think that the heart is used in a metaphorical way, meaning that they say that it represents love because we think of it as that. Although I also think that since our heart is what keeps us alive, our heart represents love because it is life. We love life, and without it, we wouldn't love. That is a thought that came to my mind as I analyzed your question. I also think that there could really be a reason why the heart represents love. Or, this can be like what I said about innocence. It is seen differently by different people. Maybe people have different reasons why the heart is what represents love.
I also wonder why the hearts, and not the brain. In the brain is where everything happens; your brain is what makes you feel love or loved. All of the feelings happen there, so why doesn't the brain represent love?
Innocence ad love anre both abstract ideas that can be defined in many different ways because there are many ways of showing each.

The confusing How the García girls lost their accents

As I began reading How the García Girls lost their accents by Julia Alvarez, I could not understand what it was really about. What mainly confused me was that there were a lot of characters and I had no idea who they were. I started to kind of understand the reading wen I got to the part where Yolanda is back in the Dominican Republic. I began to understand why she was there but I did not or was not able to connect it to the very beginning.

Another thing that is confusing is the way the story us told. It starts with the end and ends with the beginning. That's is really confusing to me and males it harder for me to understand what the meaning of the book is.

The lives of the characters seem like they've gone through a lot of things. There is disloyalty between the characters, there is anger, there are also connections but many things happen to the characters throughout the years. I think of the lives of some of the characters and see that hay have a reputation based on what they did or what they have done.

Before I started reading the book, I thought that it would be about how the Garcia girls lost their Spanish accent. When I started reading I started thinking and then I thought it might rather be about how they lose their Spanish or how they leave behind everything for a new life in the United States. I think of the title now as something different than what I tought at first when I was just looking at the book and had not started reading. Now I think that it might mean how the Garcia girls left their home, their people, their food and their language for a replacement. In hope of success. Now, they seem to have lost some of those things or they seem to have forgotten them.

Honestly, this book is really confusing. I can't read something that is told in reverse. I don't know what to expect for the rest of the book. I can't really make predictions when the order if the story is like this. I wonder what will happen next.