The Gift of a Cuento

1.     I liked how storytelling was a big part of their family, because it kept me entertained throughout the whole essay and made me think of my family. My family also tells each other stories to one another the way her uncle was telling the story of what happened to him the night before and the reason for the big bump on his forehead. It made me smile knowing I knew from personal experience what she was talking about.

2.     I didn’t like the present her uncle gave to her for Christmas. I think he could have given her something much better. A perfume is good for a woman, not for a thirteen year old. She told her uncle to surprise her and a perfume isn’t that creative of a present.

3.     I found it interesting how her uncle was the black sheep of the family but still lived by everyone, because black sheep to me means the unwelcomed one. But then again her uncle never gave her family to not welcome them. He was tried helping out even if he lived in New York.

4.     I found it funny how Judith Cofer compared her life to Cinderella at the age of thirteen, because that’s exactly what I did too. I always had to do all the work around the house, while my beautiful older cousins always went out to dances and parties and all the boys wished they could be with them. I though life was out to get me but I hadn’t learned the lesson Judith was soon to learn, you’ll have your time to shine.

7. I learned a couple of important things from reading this. The first was to be thankful for the family you have in your life, and the ones who try being there for you all the time and I think that’s important because your family loves you and always wants to help you even though you might not think so sometimes they love you and always want the best for you. The second was that I could really relate to Judith Cofer and her family and that’s important because I know exactly what she means when she said it was so funny hearing her uncle and her mom talking about his cuento, because they really are funny and they really do stop everything bad or stressing that’s happening in your life even if it’s for a couple of minutes.

Taking the Macho

       1. I liked how the Indian Woman took their destiny in their own hands, because even back then in 1496 these woman did what they wanted to do, and not what they were ordered to do. It’s amazing to me that those women were that way back then, and later on woman let men step all over them. Maybe if those Indian women would of stuck around we wouldn’t have to fight for women’s rights as much as we’ve had to in the past.

     

      2. I didn’t like the Christian men, because the way she describe them they sounded  so sexist. What bothered me the most was when she said the Christian Men were astonished to see woman playing the same games the men were playing, and even sometimes on the same team. Their ignorance really got to me, because it irritates me to know that some men still think the same way that those Christian men did back in 1496.

     

      3.  I found it bizarre that famous woman writers were so suicidal, because if Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf weren’t happy with their lives, they could have just been what every girl was doing during their time, or find something more enjoyable to do.

          4. I found it frustrating when that one man’s answer to why woman do not play pelota was, “Because women do not have Pelotas.” I found it so frustrating, because woman shouldn’t be able to not play a sport or do something because something we were or weren’t born with. We now live in a world where woman can do everything men can do, and sometimes more and greater and ignorant men need to accept that.

7.  I learned a couple of important things from reading this. The first was there are no guarantees in life and I think that’s important because we all need to live fully each and every day cause you never know what can happen or if you will ever make it back safely to your warm bed at night. The second was not to be or ashamed or discouraged of finding my own macho within and that’s important because I should never hold back because of the way I think society would perceive me.

Together We Can

   In Judith Ortiz Cofer's memoir Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming a Writer, she describes and illusrates her role model in the first essay of her memoir in the essay "My Rosetta." Cofer story takes place in Patterson, New Jersey in 1966. Cofer is in her church's basement where her Confirmation classes were held. Her Confirmation teacher, Sister Rosetta, had high expectations by demanding change and reform, and accepting nothing less. This really had an impact in Cofer's life. Cofer learned by this experience many valuable things. First, she learned to never take no for an answer. If something really meant alot to her she learned she had to strive to get it and not let anyone take that away from her. Also, she learned what it meant to be independent. Woman in her era always listened to the men, Cofer listened to herself. I believe she chose to mention Sister Rosetta,because she was a powerful woman in her life who showed her how much order can be done if she had the strength and the courage to do what she knew was right.

My Personal Opinion

     In the 8th essay "And Are You a Latina Writer?" in the novel Woman in Front of the Sun On Becoming a Writer by Judith Ortiz Cofer, I learned how to stay true to yourself till the very end. The whole essay is about how she shifts from one heritage to another, and how happy she is to have both. It's really easy to lose yourself or your sense of identity, at any age or any profession. People forget who they are and where they come from all the time, and it's refreshing to me knowing she never did.


     The part I liked the most was when she said she belonged to both her Puerto Rican and American heritages. It showed me she was really proud of both and not ashamed of one or the other. My least favorite part of the essay was the critism people gave her about being a Puerto Rican American Writer. I disliked it because they thought she was ashamed of her Puerto Rican heritage by not writing her stories in Spanish, but if they took the time to read her memoir Woman in Front of the Sun On Becoming a Writer they'd see she shares her heritage with us by using Spanish words at differnent points of her novel. What bored me in the essay was her poem titled "Claims" about her Grandmother. It bored me because it had no sense of direction to me. I don't think that was the appropriate place to place the poem, and it didn't make any sense to me. My very favorite part was how she knows herself and stays true to herself through and through. She never tries to be someone she isn't in her memoir, and that shows the type of woman she is.


     Two of my goals in life are to never change, and never forget my heritage. I don't want to be like those celebrities who forget who they are and their purpose in life each and every day. I want to be different. I want to embrace my culture and who I am, because those are two things that make me the person I am today. While teengaers my age find role models in celebrities who forget who they are, and try acting so cool all the time. My role model is someone real, someone who I can relate too. My role model is Judith Cofer.