So far in this unit the narratives that we have read have one or more topics in common. The narratives “Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing” by José Olivarez and “Mothers Tongue” by Amy Tan both have in common that when moving to a new country it can be difficult to adjust to a new norm or just feel at home. Often times you feel out of place which can have you thinking, “I wanna go back home”. For example, in José Olivarez’s story, he talked about how he wanted to go back home to Mexico because HE would make sense there. He claims he would “live a good, anxiety-free life”. In Amy Tan’s situation her mother apparently speaks “broken” English which makes communication to others difficult. Also, because of how her mother speaks she’s prone to people taking advantage of her. For example, when she was trying to get her CAT scans since the hospital lost it and showed no remorse. But when her perfect English speaking daughter got on the phone with the doctor she was reassured that they would look for it and apologized. In “The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde, the narrative is about racial discrimination. Unlike the other narratives, Audre was born in America (New York) but she was colored. So, she had hardships of her own, especially when her family went to Washington D.C. for vacation. They couldn’t even sit inside a a place to have ice cream as a family because they’re not white. Overall, the three narratives have faced some type of self discovery or discrimination.
