- Ch. 7 is Sonia's mother's story. It's essentially a flashback to before Sonia was born. Why is this necessary for her memoir?
- What does the English language represent to Sotomayor? Why did Sonia and Junior's teachers send home notes that their parents were supposed to speak English at home? What did English represent to Sonia's parents?
- Why is Dr. Paulsen's gender (96) important to Sotomayor?
- Why do you think Sotomayor juxtaposes homework and her mother and friends' leering at Tom Jones at the beginning of Ch. 10? (Btw, here's Tom Jones performing the song she's referring to:)
Monday, February 12, 2018
My Beloved World
Some questions that I have about My Beloved World:
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Sonia flashbacks to tell her moms story. I think it's an important factor as she tells her story to tell the story of her mother and the hardships she had to endure before and after coming to the U.S. These hardships were the reason her mother was cold. Before I knew her mothers story I didn't understand why she was shut away and cold but she struggled a lot of her life. I think she also wanted to show that there were happier times before her fathers drinking became out of control.
ReplyDeleteSonia and Jr's teacher would send notes home to speak more English at home. I believe this was hard for her parents because Sonia's father did not speak hardly any English and I believe her mother was a little embarrassed because she didn't feel confident speaking English.
Dr. Paulsen's gender was important because she was the first female with a high authority position she had ever met. This is important to Sonia because even in school the Nuns were still under the Fathers and had little input. In the hospital where her mom worked none of the Doctors were female. The highest position they held was nursing supervisor.
Sonia's flashback to her mothers story is very important in her memoir because it helps us the reader to have a understanding of Celina's background before she was born. Celina grew up in poverty as you can see on page 65, her mother was sick and helpless. All her siblings had an important role to play in terms of taking care of each other because their father passed away. Forcing her brother Mayo to take up their father's role. Half of her childhood was gone due to the many responsibilities she had to take on. Celina found pleasure in school because it got her out of the house. She was mistreated by Mayo regular, even for just standing outside the store to listen to the jukebox. She didn't have an happy life and she tried her best to give kids one. Fortunately, Celina grabbed an opportunity while living with her sister after her mom died. Although she had to lie it was well worth it. She was recruited into one of the first Puerto Rican units of the Women's Army Corps. Celina had to learn English while living in America. Now I understand why Celina worked so hard as a nurse because she was trying to give her kids the life she never had. She was robbed of her childhood and she didn't want this for her kids. This story might also be one of Sonia's motivation to success.She realized her mom had to work extremely hard as well to get into the army and later on become a nurse.
ReplyDeleteDr. Elsa Paulsen's gender was important because she was the first woman in a high authority position which Sonia had ever encountered at the time. Sonia found this intriguing. All the other doctors were men. The school she went to the nuns had no authority over the students they had to answer to the Fathers.