Prof. Jessica Penner | OL05 | Fall 2020

Kiara Wright Formal Critique: Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature

ENG1141

Creative Writing

Formal Critique

Reviewer’s Name: Kiara Wright

TitlePendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature

Author’s Name: Myriam Gurba

Characters

I like how Gurba talked about her grandfather, being a publicist and following his footsteps.

Question: What would your grandfather say if he read your critique on American Dirt?

Point of View

I feel like Cummin contradicted herself when she said that “I don’t want to write about race,” Cummins wrote in a 2015 New York Times op-ed. “ but ended up writing in a point of view of a different race.

Question: my question is for the Cummin. if you had the option to interview few people to get an understanding their point of view, would you do it?

Setting & Context

Question: If you were to write a book would you want Cummin to Critique it?

Voice & Style

I really like how she expressed how she felt about American Dirt. Though it was her opinion it felt like they she wrote how she felt the she would speak rather than it being formal, she just wrote her honest opinion.

Dialogue

I like how she compared American Dirt to “its pages ought to be upcycled as toilet paper”.

Question : What other opinions do you have about American Dirt?

3 Comments

  1. Robert Rampersaud

    Good evening Kiara,
    I agree that Cummin contradicted herself about she will not write about another face. I do believe Cummin picking the bad part of Mexico will give everyone a bad view when in reality not all of Mexico is like that.

  2. Robert Rampersaud

    Good evening Kiara,
    I agree that Cummin contradicted herself about she will not write about another face. I do believe Cummin picking the bad part of Mexico will give everyone a bad view when in reality not all of Mexico is like that.

  3. Amna Ahmed

    Hey Kiara, I agree with your character critique. I also liked that Gurba mentioned her grandfather in the beginning of her work. It gave the readers more insight to her life other than the clues readers got from the way Gurba writes. For example, Gurba’s sassy tone.

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