Summary Of How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents By Julia Alvarez

Whether the books were fact or fiction Julia Alvarez expressed her life experiences of having to be constantly on the go and her struggles and a young Dominican

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Book Review I did not enjoy How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. The novel was not easy to understand and it was very hard to follow. The story jumped from past events to the present making it hard to recognize the current situation. The novel consists of many examples supporting my claim.

Everyone has a story to write about. Julia Alvarez surely did. She was born on March 27, 1950, in New York City. When she was three months old her parents, both native Dominicans decided to go back home. While there her father got involved with a plan to overthrow the dictator Rafael Trujillo.

When her sisters go and visit her, the girls think that she looks like “the after person in one of those before-after makeovers in magazines” (117). Sofia essentially changed everything about her after just a few months in the Dominican Republic. She goes from someone that smokes weed and has wild stories about boys to a girl who is in touch with her Dominican roots. However, in Sofia’s case, parts of her identity are rooted in her innate characteristics. Even though some things have changed about her, there are still things that are the same about her.

Lee 1 Breann Lee Period 3 22 September 2014 Compare and Contrast Paper The books “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, by Julia Alvarez and “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson are very similar novels. The main characters share similar experiences growing up in their New York setting that shapes them throughout the book. Both Melinda and Yolanda feel like outcasts because of their low self-esteem and their problems communicating. In “Speak” on Melinda's first day of school Anderson writes “I am clanless…I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, and definitely the wrong attitude.

The year 1960, Dede Mirabal life was changed forever, she lost three of her sisters’ in a car accident. Rafael Trujillo and the dictating government of the Dominican Republic was responsible for the sisters’ deaths. Trujillo put the sisters’ through an abundance of hardships while in power; he raped, tortured and drugged Minerva, the third sister. Trujillo may not have tortured all of the sisters’, but his impact was felt by all of them throughout the book. Minerva was against the government, hence the reason Trujillo committed all of those crimes, and lead many political movements against the government.

Imagine a man who is the intimidating dictator of the country, and has intentions to hurt and kill anyone who stands in his way. Now imagine leading a revolution against this dictator, becoming one of his obstacles. This was how Minerva, Patria, Dede, and Maria Teresa Mirabal lived their lives. These girls lived in the Dominican Republic during the time when Rafael Trujillo was the dictator. They led a revolution against him, which ultimately sabotaged their lives.

With Trujillo being one of the most important presidents in the history of The Dominican Republic I decided to research the following questions. How Rafael Trujillo became a dictator? What were Trujillo's achievements? How did Trujillo journey as a president end? I decided to ask these questions because I’m interested

Trujillo established absolute political control and severe violations of human rights, like Lilies at the time was concerned with the economic development of the close and benefited, Trujillo used his political party, the Dominican Party, a seal of their decisions. But the real power was in the National Guard, the largest institution, better armed, and more centrally controlled than any military force in the history of the nation in the National Guard becoming a virtual monopoly on power. Trujillo's regime worried about expanding the National Guard as one of the largest military forces in Latin America, by 1940, the Dominican military spending was 21% of the national budget. All citizens were signed to identification cards and passes good behavior of the secret police.

Hunger of Memory is a memoir of the educational experience of Richard Rodriguez and his journey as a first generation Mexican- American citizen. The book is compiled of a prologue, in which he states his reasons for writing, and six chapters with no specific chronological order. Richard Rodriguez grew up in a white, middle-class neighborhood and attended a Catholic school. He describes his early childhood as a war between his “public” and “private life”: a war between school and home. He struggled when he first started school, because English was his second language and he felt insecure about his shaky ability to communicate through it.

It provides a role in character development shown predominantly in Patrias character. It shows the extent of Trujillo’s actions against the Dominican people by showing Patrias desperateness for her son. These examples depicted in the book show how the theme of religion has an impact on In the Time of the

In paragraph 27 it states ,”there were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family after my father ,after her ,” the cronies were loyal servants to the dictator even when he was dead so alvarez's mother thought they were still in danger of being captured or killed ,because of the cronies the mother would live in fear unlike alvarez who didn't fully believe they would come after them . Alvarez wrote her novels knowing they may wreak havoc on her family members who were still in the dominican republic and maybe her parents and sisters. In paragraph 29 and 30 it talks about the last novel she wrote about the island and how her mother thought about it ,”I don't care what happens to us i'm so proud of you ,” her mother says ,alvarez wrote the novel at the risk of her family but her mother and her new the story had to be told and the things the people had to go through

In search for a better life outside of the Dominican Republic, Anita’s whole family tries to move to America. One day sitting in her room, Anita look out her window to see no one left on the compound. Anita explains, “I look out the door and down the dark driveway. The whole flock of our family has fled. Only Mami and Chucha and I are left (pg.100 p.9).”Her whole family has gone to America to be free, leaving everything behind.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is mainly about four girls named Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia and how they are forced to move to the United States of America. The novel expresses how they struggle adapt and the challenges they face during this transition. The challenges they face are quite similar to the discriminations that black people experienced during those times. The family originally lived in the Dominican Republic in a big house with maids.

From the moment that the Dominican republic was free from Trujillo’s dictatorship, contrasting viewpoints have come up regarding the sacrifices of the Mirabal sisters. While some argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were not beneficial and worthwhile to the revolution because it resulted in the orphaning of their children and three young lives were lost. Others argue that the Mirabal sisters sacrifices were effective for the revolution since it changed the future of their country. I deem the sisters sacrifices are justifiable because their sacrifices had an important purpose. Isn’t it true that Trujillo's was absolutely in power for 31 years however, because of the three young sisters his cruel regime ended.