ENG1141
Creative Writing
Formal Critique
Reviewer’s Name: Diana Rivera
Title of Piece: Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature
Author’s Name: Myriam Gurba
Voice & Style: The main thing that I enjoyed from beginning to end was the way that Gurba let her voice be heard the way that she wants it to be heard. She didn’t let the Mexican hide she wanted it to be seen and share it with every reader that comes across this piece. It creates a connection with reader and author; like the reader somehow knows her now because of this one piece.
Point of View: The author’s point of view is one of the main components of this piece for the reader to understand why she wrote what she wrote about “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins. It made her statements written about the book solid, it gave credibility to her words. She is a Mexcian so the way that Cummins felt the need to write about “faceless brown people” when Mexicans have been doing it their whole lives was a smack to Gurba’s face. The way she started it off by describing her point of view when white people in America react to her grandfathers’ position as a publicist in Mexico shows how she dislikes how white people try to belittle Mexicans as humans, not as a race. It showed off her point of view for white people which is why she disliked the way that Cummins worded her reason behind “American Dirt“.
Characters: I enjoyed that she was descriptive with how each character portrayed themselves to her. The way that she worded the evil she felt from Cummins and the betrayal she felt from her editor when she wrote her review. It showed the realness in each person of her story. One way that she gave a great description of a character was when Cummins became “Latinx” when four years before she clammed that title she stated in an interview how she is indeed white and that she will never understand the struggle any other race than white feels because she is not one of them. It showed Cummins’s true character come to light through the eyes of Gurba.
Setting & Context: As stated in point of view, the way that Gurba is able to describe her history with white people shows the reason why she is when writing this piece. The reasoning behind the anger when she reads the letter she got from an editor about “American Dirt“. The reasoning behind her harsh descriptions of Cummins and every other white person mentioned. She always felt belittled by any white person even if it was through the way that they reacted to her grandfathers’ position. It shows her credibility behind the anger and why she is allowed to feel the way that she does.
Questions:
Dialogue: Why didn’t Gurba put more examples of her personally being belittled by white people before reading “American Dirt” By Jeanine Cummins?
Point of View: Why didn’t she include the point of view of other Mexicans that read the book or that she shared her point of view of the book with?
Voice & Style: The words that she used were Spanglish did this mean that her audience was Latin Americans/Latin people? If so, how does this make her any better than Cummins for her intended audience for “American Dirt“?
Character: Did Cummins ever get put on blast for claiming to be “Latinx”?
great critique! I agree that Gurba’s anger toward the way Cummins wrote her book and also the fact that she shouldn’t have wrote the book in the first place is well shown in the article that she wrote.
Hi Diana, same here I really liked how Gurba presented herself in the way she wanted too, her word choice really allows the reader to get to know her and understand her dissapointment.
Hi Diana, same here I really liked how Gurba presented herself in the way she wanted too, her word choice really allows the reader to get to know her and understand her dissapointment.
Hi Diana, Even I liked how Gurba was able to speak so freely without any hesitation. She indeed is really serious about it and we get to know about her disappointment through her words. But she indeed is a strong woman who stands to her words.
Hi Diana,
I agree with you when you wrote that Gurba’s voice and style in this piece is easily heard by the reader as she wants it to be. I think she is writing out of “we had enough already” mentality.
Diana, I enjoyed reading your response. I too enjoyed the authors voice and style. She incorporates her Spanish language in order to tell the audience and the author of American Dirt, that she is unapologetically Mexican. She uses her language in order to dismiss the image that Mexicans are uneducated. She proves that she is very much capable of demonstrating her intellects not only in the English language but in her language too.
Diana, I enjoyed reading your response. I too enjoyed the authors voice and style. She incorporates her Spanish language in order to tell the audience and the author of American Dirt, that she is unapologetically Mexican. She uses her language in order to dismiss the image that Mexicans are uneducated. She proves that she is very much capable of demonstrating her intellects not only in the English language but in her language too.
I agree with your thoughts on Gurba’s voice and style. It was something that stood out greatly to me and gave this piece a much more personal feeling to it.