ENG1141
Creative Writing
Formal Critique
Reviewer’s Name: Dylan Nanjad
Title of Piece: Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature
Author’s Name: Myriam Gurba
Enjoyed
Plot: Gurba doesn’t waste any time to destroy Cummins’ work, and she does a great job at dissecting every aspect of Dirt and explaining why it angers her so much.
Point of View: Gurba does a great job at explaining what it feels like to have someone else step in to talk for you despite not understanding anything at all. I can feel her anger through the words she uses.
Setting and Context: By explaining her past experiences, Gurda makes it easier for me to empathize when she explains the problems she has with Cummins’ works and actions.
Voice and Style: Gurba’s descriptions about anything related to Cummins are filled with rage, and it stays that way the entire article. She also clearly shows her pride as a Mexican.
Questions
Characters: What other anger Gurba the way Cummins does?
Point of View: Was Gurba always this outspoken about Mexican misrepresentation?
Setting and Context: Was Dirt the final straw for Gurba’s frustration to overflow?
Voice and Style: Did Gurba purposefully leave some Spanglish untranslated?
I completely agree with how Gurba’s way to express her feelings helps clarify the plot even more to the reader as well as describe the reasoning behind the anger towards Cummins. My only question is do you think she overreacted towards the book but underreacted with the claim Cummins made about being apart of the Latinx community?
Hi Dylan, I totally agree with your point of view and just like you I feel Myriam did a great job expressing her anger and disappointment, she wanted Cummins to understand that sometimes we don’t talk about things we don’t know and Cummins did not have much knowledge about the Mexican culture. Do you think Myriam was too harsh towards Cummins?
Hi Dylan, I really enjoyed reading your point of view about Gurba. I agree with what you had to say about Gurba expressing her feelings without any hesitation. She clarifies what she has to say and her explanations are really interesting.
Hi Dylan,
I agree with you about the rage and anger that Gurba showed throughout her piece, I think that is what made the piece relatable to me and many other readers. she showed her true self and opinion about Cummins’ writing without sugar coating. it was definitely justifiable how angered and raged she was in the piece after having enough of ignorance and racist ideas that adds to societal inequality in America.