Garcia Girls Book Review

Over my two years of reading books at high school, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, was similar to the books read in freshman year. It was a hard and amazing book to read. When I was done with the book, I wondered what had inspired Alvarez to write the book. It turns out that the book was similar to an autobiography. 

According to Julia Alvarez’s website, she was born in New York City and was raised in the Dominican Republic after her parents moved back to their homeland. The family stayed there until they escaped to America in 1960 to get away from the deep trouble when both of her parents were involved with a group of people who were plotting against the dictatorship (juliaalvarez.com). Similar to this, in Garcia Girls they were trying to escape from the secret police in the vignette “The Blood of the Conquistadors” in Part III of the book (Alvarez 195-289). The secret police of the Dominican Republic were suspicious of the four daughter’s father, Carlos Garcia and the family believed that it was best for the family to move out of the country with the help of Vic, a CIA member. 

In Alvarez’s life in America, she first had a hard time learning how to speak and write in English. Many bullies teased her because of hard time with English (juliaalvarez.com). She tried very hard to learn English and speak and write the language. She then “discovered the welcoming world of the imagination of books” (juliaalvarez.com). Like her life in reality, the book also shared a same experience of bullying. In the vignette “Trespass” of Garcia Girls, the Garcia Girls had only come to America for one year. The girls are new to the culture and do not really know what it really is. Here, Carla was bullied by boys because she had just begun to hit puberty. The boys teased her about her flat breasts and her hairy legs (Alvarez 153). Unlike Alvarez, Carla escaped the torment by going to boarding school. On the other hand, Alvarez became inspired to write, because of the American experience when she was in school.

The best character that fits with Julia Alvarez in Garcia Girls is actually the Garcia daughters. Each of the four daughters had a special characteristic that was part of Julia Alvarez. Like Carla, Alvarez was humiliated because of her language skills. Like Sandra, Alvarez wanted to fit into American society. Like Yolanda, Alvarez was a heavy reader and writer; mostly on poems. Like Sofia, Alvarez was active in her life, not necessarily sexual. 

“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” was the first novel that Alvarez had published in 1991 (juliaalvarez.com). She had also written small magazines and entered in writing contests. She wrote the book because it was her life long dream to become a writer. She wanted to get her story out to the world to read.  She later wrote other novels and even a collection of her poems in two books. 

Compared to other books of the same genre, this book stood out amongst them. There were many more dramatic events compared to other books such as “House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. Throughout reading Garcia Girls, I wondered how so many horrific events could happen to them. One terrible event led to another.  Within every vignette of the book, there was at least one plot that marked what the section was about. I constantly felt bad for the daughters that they had to endure all of the traumatizing events while they were in the Dominican Republic and in America. Some of these events were the secret police in front of Fifi, the stalker in the green car that followed Carla, the drunken female stranger that kissed the father of the children in front of Sandi, and the nightmares that Yolanda. While reading Garcia Girls, I wondered whether it was bad luck or it was just that Julia Alvarez wanted readers to believe that there are many people that have worse lives than them. 

Compared to the books with the same genre, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” contained actually less violent activity. Usually in books with the genre of this kind would include some form of rape and/ or murder. The Garcia Girls is much less graphic compared to the others. It may have sex within the story but it is not as if it was violent. It was more of a form of pleasure and the characters were actually willing to have sex with the men. Besides the smuggling out of the country, none of the other acts in the book were partly or even illegal at all. 

Compared to other books, this book was also much more confusing and unusual on the way that it was written. Alvarez wrote the book in reverse chronological order; a way of organization that is rarely ever seen. I later learned that the reason why she had written that was because she was making a cycle in which the reader can read the book continuously and it would still flow. The syntax in which Julia Alvarez writes in is extremely different compared the syntax in which I typically read every day. It occasionally takes me a long time understand what she is talking about. That style of writing was frustrating. In my past blog posts, I discussed how I was not able to understand until the very end and that I may have to repeat sometimes. It took an average of two to three repeats in order to understand it. The book is also much predictable compared to other books. There is a pattern in which the book shows and it is how there is a plot in every section. Except “Snow,” the vignette shows a scene in which there some form of sexual activity or big plot. 

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents final book response post (YES!!!)

At last, the difficult journey of reading this book has ended. I am so glad that we had finally finished it. I could not bear another of those Valdez books. In each Valdez book, there always seem to be a main character that encounters a form of rape or murder. It seems to be rare because how could so many tragedies happen so often within a person's lifetime. Overall, I thought that the book was neutral; not good and not that bad.

For the last reading, I thought that it was much better than all the rest of the parts. I learned to adapt to Garcia's syntax and diction. In the third and final part of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, I thought that it had contained many symbols and that there was a much deeper meaning to it. In class, Mr. Sutherland said that the last paragraph was making the book like a cycle where the reader can go back to the beginning of the book again and not be confused like when I had first read it. That ending had really surprised me. I wondered if I had just read the book over again, would I feel the same way? or words just be words? I thought about it and came to a conclusion that it would actually be more fun to read it again.

In the last section of the book there were a few scenes that were basically deep symbols of each character. One of them is when the bank got jammed and that the figure was stuck between heaven and hell. I compared it to how Carla was not able to decide what she was going to do when she had forgotten about it. The best symbol in this part that I thought was amazing was the nightmares of Yolanda of the kitten. In a way, the kitten was like Yolanda and her sisters. They were taken away at an early age and they did not necessarily adapt to their surroundings. Like the kitten, the sisters, too had became lost when they had arrived in America and it had took them a long time before they had found their way again.

Connecting the title to the main theme of the story, the title states "lost their accents." I thought that it wasn't much of their accents but more of their culture. When the family were at Dominican Republic, there was a tradition and a more strict culture. The environment was much more calm and the family was rich there. When they had arrived into the United States, the Garcia Girls had experienced a much more loose culture. They were poor there and could not afford much. Boys tended to tease them and American culture seemed to rely on sex. The girls soon had adapted to American culture and had heavily lost their Dominican Republic culture as a result.

Re: What is Success by Andy Lau

So, what is success? Success cannot be defined with only a few words or that it has only one meaning. I looked upon Andy Lau's post and I thought that he defined success rather well. He wrote:

"Success means many things to people. To me success describes a positive result or wished-for ending through the achievement of goals. The key to success lies in hard work and perseverance. Ultimate success in life can only come from hard work." - Andy Lau

In his blog post, I agree with what he had said. Success can be a positive result in the end or success can a result in which you are happy with. To me, success is just getting the result that had met your goal. I have a lot of experience in which success is just meeting my goal.

In the past, I had thought that success was getting good grades. When I had ever received a bad grade in which it is probably a D or an F, I would push myself to become better to raise my grades. An example of this would be last year when I was almost failing at history when I learned that I had those grades during quarter grades. I didn't show my grades to my parents and decided to help myself by pushing myself. I began to do my history homework carefully and began to study for tests as much as I could possibly can. I ended that semester with a B in that class and I was happy that I was able to do so. To my, that would be the definition of success.

Now, I think of success as being just happy of doing something whether it was a project or an essay. As long as I believe that I did it well and that I had spent effort in it, I believe that it is success. After a hard day's work and that I am able to finish is considered success to me. These experiences of success guide me to strive to become better and not lose hope within myself.

Oscar Grant Case

In the case of Johannes Mehserle shooting Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale Bart station back on New Year's Eve on 2008, Johannes Mehserle was only sentenced to the minimum jail time of 2 years. I thought that this case was not fair at all. Any form of murder should have resulted in at least moderate amount of time of about 8 years. I also thought about how it could have been called involuntary manslaughter when it was called in July.

I thought about how it was unfair and there were two reasons. One reason was the jury. For this case, the trial was supposed to be naturally held in Oakland but they had moved the case to L. A. where it had favored Mehserle's side because the jury consisted mainly of retired police officers. This greatly changes the situation compared to what would have happened if the case would have been tried in Oakland. In Alameda county, Johannes Mehserle had pleaded innocent of first degree murder. If he had been tried in Oakland, it would be considered the highest level of murder. The second reason why it was unfair was because of the sentencing. I wonder why it was considered involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter is like crashing into person with a car when the person randomly enters the middle of the street. In this case, Mehserle had shot Oscar Grant when he was already determined to be unarmed and defenseless. There were many people that had recorded. I continue to wonder why it was still considered involuntary manslaughter. There was no reason in which Mehserle needed a taser. Oscar Grant was facing his back towards the officer. I believe that this case should have resulted in at least second degree murder.

I also thought about the scene of the murder. I thought about how Mehserle would pull out the gun instead of the taser. I thought that they would have the proper training and know which weapon is where. I also thought that it was common sense that since a person was already cuffed up, there is not a need to further taser or injure the defenseless person.

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents 2nd paper clip (=

At last I have finally approached the second paper clip that we sophomores needed to have approached by tomorrow. Apparently, I had made the terrible choice to cram 100 pages in a day and it didn't go so well. So far, I thought this book was plenty like House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. It is full of vignettes just like the book we are currently reading. I am beginning to get into the book but I like books that flow and make a big story.

Even after reading this book for 2 weeks now, I continue to find this book confusing but not as confusing like before where I had barely understood a word until the end of each story. Now, I understand what is going on as I read the book. The usual parts that I get confused about is the setting and the character's names. I continue to get lost with the reverse chronological method this book is in but I am used to it by now. When I had first read the first vignette of the first chapter, I did not even know who Laura was until there was the mentioning of the fact that she had four daughters. In the last vignette of Part II, I thought that the family was still in the Dominican Republic when it was actually when they had first come to America.

Compared to a few of last year's books, this book is quite similar to them. They include some form of sex and feminism. It also introduces a different perspective of how minorities sees living in America. They are poor and the parents are working day after day. In the book, the Garcia family comes to America with their traditional cultures but as they grow older, they learn that American culture is way different to their Dominican culture. To me, the book develops a story of how the Garcia family adapted to American ways of life and partially or completely lost their Dominican lifestyle. 

I personally think this book's main story reflects my family. They were immigrants to the United States and struggled in poverty to have food and shelter. Luckily, my dad worked hard and was able to support the family. He got the recognition from Safeway to become a butcher while he was working at a supermarket. My parents expects my sister and I to become educated and have a pleasant life in the future. Doesn't every parent want that for their children?

Response to 11-4-10 by Vic Xuan

Social networking has been common throughout my period of life. When I first knew about the internet, Myspace was the first social network that I had personally knew of. It was sort of boring so I didn't access my file often. Then society had created Facebook. I joined last year and I grew fond of it and it is a great way to keep in touch with friends. I looked at Vic Xuan's response post to Ivan Arreola's post and found a quote that I agree on:

"I agree that Facebook can get addicting sometimes, but there isn't much to do on Facebook besides the childish games. Facebook can't intervene in life for a long period of time because it is simply searching and reading. People wouldn't know every movement a person is taking if they don't publicize it. Possibly, the people who do publicize it, don't mind other people knowing about their life and privacy. People know when they are giving out too much information."

Personally I agree with Vic on what he says on his response post. Ivan said that Facebook was a bad place to go to because it is addicting and many consequences could happen such as bullying. Like what Vic had said, Facebook is not addicting because a person spends only a small amount of time on it because he or she is only reading and replying. Why would a person sit there waiting for just some reply or someone to talk to because they think that they have nothing else to do? They have so many other options such as homework, reading, hanging out with friends, or something active. Well, you could even be playing video games.

My other agreement with Vic is about bullying. Bullying usually only happens when a commenter can be anonymous. In Facebook, everyone has a name. If they carry a false name, you should have never accepted them as a friend in the first place. It is so obvious. If it is someone that you know is bullying you, you can report them to anyone that you feel comfortable telling them. That could be a parent, friend, or even a teacher if you are fine with it.

My final agreement with Vic is about keeping in touch with their friends. Sometimes, school isn't enough to communicate with friends enough because of the limited time. When at home and you want to talk to your friends, you can keep in touch with them by calling them but it costs the phone bill. So, you go to an alternative in which it is a social network where you can chat and keep in touch that way. It is so accessible as long as there is internet.

Reflection: Food Journal

Over the past couple of weeks in Mrs. Corbally's class, the sophomores have been researching and analyzing our diet in our food journal. Students had to observe a four day's meal in which there are two weekdays and the entire weekend. During the period of time, Students needed jot down everything that they had eaten and described the sensations of eating the food in our composition books. This assignment was a preparation for an essay that we had turn in our final draft yesterday. It was pretty fun and overall, I had learned much from the assignment but it had also frightened me as well.

Over that time period, I had completed twelve pages of work in the composition book. I was staring at my composition book thinking that I had eaten a lot. I panicked for a period of time and then I stopped to think. I said to myself that if I had actually eaten the amount that I had eaten, I would probably be a little bit overweight. I am so skinny that I don't think that I can be fat at all. Nevertheless, I was still shocked to have eaten that much though.

This was my first time that I had ever looked into my diet and it was actually an experience that is rare amongst other people. Many others would have usually eaten what was placed before them on the table. They don't look at the nutrition labels or measure how much intake of certain substances to create a balanced diet. When I looked at the nutrition labels, I was amazed at which substances I would consume the most and the least. I learned about how unhealthy some foods are and healthy foods that are excellent for the nutrition and growth of the body.

In my diet, I learned that I tend to consume my daily value of calcium and iron just in breakfast. I tend to eat a small lunch and a bigger dinner. Between lunch and dinner, I tend to drink and eat junk food. I consume too much fat but that doesn't seem to be affecting much at all. On rare occasions do I not eat rice over the weekends nevertheless constantly consume it everyday if not a special occasion.

My first impression of "Garcia Girls"

In How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, the author write the book in many unique ways. Alvarez had written the book in reverse chronologically order. I was puzzled by that idea that an author would do that. The book is confusing and I tend to lose sight to where I am. I placed so many post-its in the first part that I wanted the author answer. Some on them were but many of them were not. In the end, I figure out who is communicating and what the section in about.

I found the book confusing mainly because I have had no experience about the book at all. I did not know who the author was and her background. It was fresh and I did not know where to start when I first received the book. When I first began the book, the author didn't give any background information about characters except for the family chart that marked the main characters' position in the family. The author just began with a story after story. Sometimes, Julia Alvarez just jumps from one scene to the next barely or not even making any transition at all. Until the end of each section, I was confused but as the story progresses I slowly understood the plot and the main point of each section. Julia Alvarez wrote the book where it was just the perfect amount of confusion but it also gave a chance for the reader to understand what is going on.

Besides the confusion part, I found the book quite interesting. I enjoyed how there were like miniature stories within the book. It was similar to House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros where there were vignettes. It was also nice how she had included a family diagram so that the reader would know the family.

My favorite part of the book in Part 1 was the section where Sofia (FiFi) had lost her father's trust since she had run away with another man. The father disowns her and he does not speak of her name. Even when Sofia tried to throw a party for him on his 70th birthday, the father still did not approve of her. One of my questions was why the father held the grudge for such a long time. I am hoping that it will be answered later.