Category: Reading Response

The author Sandra Cisneros describes her struggle for being the only daughter growing up in a Mexican-American family with six brothers. Not getting along with her brothers, Cisneros spend most of her time lonely which helped  her become who she is now. Her father didn’t really believe in her and expected her to go to college to find a husband for her but things didnt go according to her father’s plan and he thought that her daughter wasted her time in college. Cisneros found her profession which was adding details to her work and mostly all of her writing work was for her father.  She always wanted to get the father’s attention but because she was the only daughter, instead of attention she would receive lack of appreciation from him. She was always looked at as a female who belongs to her husband. Sometimes her father would tell people that he got seven sons which made her feel left out. Cisneros showed that women can be successful too if they work hard to achieve their goals. In addiction, Cisneros finally gets her father’s attention by making him proud from showing a book written by her and her father actually read and enjoyed it.

The text “Only Daughter” mainly said how does a daughter get her father’s approval. Author is the only daughter in a Mexican family, she want to become a writer. But her father hope she can find a good husband in college. she wrote a lot of articles to get recognition from her father. Even if  her father does not understand English. After father recovered from a stroke,her story was translated into Spanish, then her father finished reading this story and felt that her story had to be copies a lot for relatives. In the end, she succeeded in obtaining recognition from her father. I agree with the author say:” Of all the wonderful things that happened to me last year, that was the most wonderful.”(p2,last paragraph) I think getting parental recognition is more exciting than anything. For me, badminton is my favorite sport. So I want to become a badminton coach as my part time job, but my parents not allow me to use a lot of time to practice badminton when I was middle school student. They thought it is bad for my study. Until I won the badminton championship in my high school, I got their encouragement. I think this is the most wonderful thing in my life.

 

I found so many interesting stuff in this story, in the story the author talks a lot about his experience in his like, he wrote tons of books, and the thing I found interesting that he wrote most his book when he was in prison, in the book the author also talks about racism, which showing that the author was a part of the civil  right movement, for example  his jail mate were thinking that him self is better than the author, because of this education,  what is interesting is that because of that the author start to read, and it make me start to much more smarter, it was a way that author sees the outside world,  also I like this read because how the way that author use the history even in his writing, for example, the author tells about the history about the war that happen between the Qing dynasty China and the British, the British win the war and force China to open in order for them to sell opium, even thought that the British are the one that make the mistake, this shows that the authors point of view about how white people think that them self are better that other types of people, they fore people to sign unequal treaty and sell drug to the people, over the author might want to tell people that book is the key to see the world, and people should be treated equally, no one is better than the other.

                  In Malcolm x learning to read shows the power of education and how it strengthen someone’s mind and their way of thought.  Malcolm x shows the effort he puts in to educate himself even though he was in prison. Malcolm soon started to realize how his people are being treated during this era. Even though Malcolm was imprisoned for petty theft being in jail made him realize what he needed to educate himself. In the text it stated “it was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line” pg 258. This is what made Malcolm realize that it was disappointing for him as a black man not to be educated. And this lead to him realizing that prison was actually the right place he needed to be to educate himself. Malcolm also described the white men as “devils”(Pg263) . Showing the struggle minorities went through that time and how the whites use “trickery and manipulations” to destroy others lives and to gain more power to rule and suppress others.  Through education that Malcolm received in prison hr then now had a voice to show other what torment they are going through, and how they are being used and abused. According to the text it states “I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America (Pg 265). A huge amount of black in America was uneducated in this time period they were kept far from education, and without education you are looked down upon on like an animal. This is what allowed Malcolm to take the necessary steps he needed to educate himself. I took a lesson from “Learning to read” is to realize that the importance of educating yourself, and fighting against odds that are trying to stop you from achieving knowledge. No matter what time of position you are in and the struggles that comes ahead push yourself and keep pushing. Malcolm who was sent to prison for a common robbery showed us there is no excuse not to educate yourself and with education it allows doors to be open for you. 

Malcolm X’s alma mater is books. He started to learn words from the dictionary from alphabet ‘A’ in prison as a prisoner. After learning words, he began to read books like history and philosophy. He noticed how white people manipulated the world by enslaving black people and making Opium war. It is amazing that how far he made in prison. I have similar experience to his. I served Korean Army for about two years. I did not want to waste my free time after training. So I read. First book I read was Buddhist bible during the vigil. I even underlined it and marked on it. I had to keep it secret since nothing is allowed other than watch-out. Books were given to us every month, so I read almost 50 books for a year especially fiction. He was so passionate about reading books that he even think about himself imprisoned for months. Reading books gives us joy and happiness. I totally agree with what X had in prison. While I was working for military service for nearly two years, I had an opportunity to read a lot. Sometimes, it made me forget that I was in the army.I also experienced a few times that I woke up and asked myself where I am. I felt that it tricks our brain. It separates our mind for awhile just enough to relax.

In some way, I feel connected to Malcolm X’s experience in prison because sometimes I feel frustrated because I can’t fully express my ideas just because of my lack of practice of the language. This is connected to the text because before Malcolm X was in prison he did not worry about learning how to write and read because he did not need it. He did not realize how important it was until he really need it and the same happens to me because I was in a high school where every single person speak spanish I didn’t worry about practicing at all but, now that I need it I realize how important it is. Also, I can relate to this text because even though I have some level of writing and reading I know that there is big amount of words that I don’t know yet just like Malcolm X. To add, this text makes me feel like I haven’t done anything to end up my frustration of not being able to communicate my ideas. It also gave me the answer of what should I do to end it up, I just need to take actions as Malcolm X did.

This story was very interesting to me for a couple of reasons. To me when I read that her father only wanted her to look for a husband instead of an education, that surprised me because it’s completely different from today. It maybe was just her family that felt a way about young spanish girls back then. You can tell from reading this that he expected more from his sons then her. For me, my parents want my sisters and me to put education first and I know a other people that feel the same way in their families. It was really great that she got education though, that writing was kind of a passion for her. You can tell that she just wanted approval from her father and that is completely normal and when she finally got it after writing her own book, she must have felt accomplished. What I didn’t understand was why he changed his mind, obviously she wrote a book so he would be proud but before he stated that her father believed that the education she got was a waste of time. This was a short story and yet somehow I feel like she summarized her life story.

Reading Sandra Cisneros Only Daughter, I have realized a lot of connections and reason for what she’s been through, through out the short story. Through out her life she has been the only girl/ daughter in her family of 9. In her Mexican household she is expected to marry. She wrote about her life, also about her father expecting to gain respect and attention for what she’s doing. With all the writing and reaching/ achieving in a profession, she still fought/seeker for her fathers attention. In her story she referred to him as the “ public who is disinterested in reading.” Through out her childhood she felt erased or not seen at all because her father would explain his family’s situation as “I have 7 sons.” She said I could be a mistranslation, but deep down she felt unseen. I can relate in a sort of way because in my family, I am the oldest daughter and I have a younger sister. I would be the best in my class, get amazing grades, just to seek my parents attention and approval. With doing so, i get a “do better,” or “next time get higher,” while my sister gets a “great job,” or a “congrats.” Reading this, I get where Cisneros coming from and it is just seeking approval from your parents to have scene of self, that you’re on the right track.