On this blog, you'll reflect on the excerpt from "Barrio Boy." You may discuss others' ideas, respond to others' perspectives, and share new ideas that you could include in your own writing.
Here's wha
t I asked you to focus on during reading:
t I asked you to focus on during reading:–Specific things that you notice about how this text is written—what structures or literary devices seem important?
–Sticky note repeating phrases or repeating ideas or images.
–Notice where there are details that enhance the bigger message of the piece? How are those details communicated?
–Where does the writer show us, use imagery or figurative language? Is it effective?
–Why do you think the author chose to organize the piece this way?
–What’s the point of view? How does this POV influence us as readers?
–How does the piece open? Why might he have chosen this way?
I noticed that he opened the piece talking about how different his new home was from his old one in Mexico. He talks about all the individual things both big and small that he misses. This all shows how much he longs for his old home and way of life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Becky. The detail he shows means he cares so much as to include us into every bit of his pain. The way he goes about this is very specific and relate able which brings me back to the way I thought about things as a young kid. I enjoyed the extensive imagery as well and noticed he kept mentioning the statures of his teachers/principal. This clues me in on how he feels about that particular person and they way they teach.
ReplyDeleteIn Barrio Boy, the boy goes full circle. He goes from the outsider, the new one to the school and needs a translator just to talk to the principal to being that kid, the one called into the office to help the principal with other new Spanish kids. But I would think that a principal of a school for kids from other places to teach them English would know how to speak Spanish(Or some other language) so she can interact with the kids that have yet to fluently speak English, or just to talk to parents who have no way to learn.
ReplyDelete(1)i like that that the text follows a complete circle with the story line. the story begins with the boy being introduced to the school by an older student. it ends with him being that student demonstrating how the school transformed him through his time there.
ReplyDeleteWhy did the author randomly add in Spanish words that were italicized? Was it to relate back to his home life?
ReplyDeleteThe story is told in first person to give the audience a feeling of understanding towards the child in the story. The author starts the story with the young boy comparing his old way of life and culture to the typical American culture. The author once again might have done this so the readers could feel a sense of sympathy toward the boy and his struggles to fit in with the American lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteWhen he talks about the different lives he had both in Mexico and the US, he uses a lot of comparative sentence structure and also a lot of detail to describe physical differences and his emotions that he felt during that time.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how much he compared it to his hometown he seemed to like it much more than california. I was a little confused about why they moved, oh wait it was for the better school.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed all the comparisons with Mexico in the beginning. The U.S and Mexico are very different.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to learn that he was only in first grade. There is so much detail: the grocery store and how it differed from his one in home in Mexico, the Principal's office, etc. I most definitely don't remember that much from when I was in first grade. However, it makes sense that there is much detail, because a major change was taking place in his life at the time. We remember huge events.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how the writer would use spanish in the story as well. Like at the beginning of the story he would talk about how there are no "mercados" i just thought that it was really intriguing and i loved getting to learn the spanish as well it also helped me understand more how big of a cultural difference there was.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting on page 163 the narrator kept repeating Ito
ReplyDeleteI noticed that although he wasn't totally comfortable with his new environment, he wasn't resisting it. He embraced the change. He described everything he thought was weird and then told us what was normal for him back in Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThe kid was Spanish, he knew no other way of describing thing other than in Spanish. It also just relays how he misses his old home and how different America is than where he is from.
ReplyDeleteDo you all think the use of Spanish alienates us as readers who do not speak Spanish? Or, does it have a different influence? What's the effect?
ReplyDeleteI agree with phoebe and cody. I thought the full circle aspect of the story was cool and it demonstrated how much his teachers, his school, his friends, and his new surroundings have changed him. It also gives a different prospective on his first experience to the new school by putting him in the other seat.
ReplyDelete@cody. i agree that she should learn to speak Spanish if she is living and teaching in that community, however i get the impression that she also utilizes the older students to make the transition more comfortable for everyone. This way the new students have someone they can relate to right off the bat. sort of in the link crew mentality.
ReplyDeleteYes i think that the spanish words were the authors way of showing how he still sort of clung to his old life and didn't want to adapt to this new one. Was his school an english school? or a acidemic school.
ReplyDeleteIn this story i noticed that the boy compares everything to what he had in Mexico. I like how he started as the new boy that needed help being showed around. At the end of the story he was the one helping other kids.
ReplyDelete1. Structurally the story starts out taking each moment very slowly, but as it progresses, moments go by faster and faster until happenings are essentially being displayed in a list format. This shows how Ernesto gets into the routine of the new school. In the end, he helps a new student get more comfortable with the school. showing that he has gone full circle.
ReplyDelete2. Pass!
3. Little details in the story include vivid descriptions of other children in the school with varied ethnic histories. This enhances the main idea of the school and story, that people of varied backgrounds can come together seamlessly.
4. Effective and vivid imagery is used to describe the closest of the classroom as well as the physical appearance of the other students.
5. It is organized as it is in order to show Ernesto getting more and more comfortable with his school.
6, The POV comes from Ernesto. This gets the reader closer to his thoughts and emotions as well as solidifying him as the focal point of the story.
7. The piece opens with comparisons between Mexico and California, this is to show how alienated Ernesto feels in his new home.
I agree with Audrey, I think the way he used both Spanish and English in the story was interesting, it makes the reader feel like they are learning and taking something away from the story and not just simply reading it.
ReplyDeletePhoebe, you're right. It also gives them a connection within the community so that the cultural shift isn't so intense. Do you think this story, as a memoir, has universal appeal or not?
ReplyDeleteLooking at other posts, it has become apparent that i did this wrong. My bad.
ReplyDeleteThe way it was written to me shows that while he was at an American school and willing to learn, he was still proud of his past and his former country. When he talks about how tall the principal is I get that he is both scared of her and, later, feeling a little safer. I think the writer chose to write this piece from this point of view because he wanted to show what this country looked like from the outside to an immigrant.
ReplyDeleteThey moved to get away from the revolution in Mexico, just to let you know. He did like it better there but most of us think that what we are used to is better than something new, unless your totally fed up with the usual
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think the use of Spanish alienates us because it's showing how big of a change he went through and that he still misses the culture and his society back home in Mazaltan.
ReplyDeleteDoes he absorb everything better because he is a kid?
ReplyDeleteI think the use of Spanish shows his change because in the beginning he uses a ton of Spanish, but by the end he speaks only in English. It shows how much he changed from his Spanish origins. I don't think it alienates the readers, I think it helps us understand his past in a way we might not otherwise be able to do.
ReplyDeleteThere were also lots of other immigrants from other countries at the school
ReplyDeleteI noticed how he compared his life in Mexico to the United States. I liked the imagery the author used describing his home in Mexico. I think its interesting that he kind of thinks of Sacramento as a dump compared to his town in Mexico. Today we might think of it as the opposite. I like how at the end he starts to enjoy learning English and meets his friends that might of been feeling the way that he did about his new life.
ReplyDeleteMegan's right, if anything, it's to show that he's alienated, it's not to disorient the reader.
ReplyDeleteI think that the author kept including random italicized Spanish words was to connect back to his first language and maybe those Spanish words helped him connect back to the memory.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I also wondered if someone could truly remember that much detail about an early experience. However, it's also true (and possible) that some of this is "story truth." It may not be exactly how it happened, but for the purposes of the story, it is true. Does that make sense? I think it can really free us as writers to realize that we don't have to be so accurate in our memoirs.
ReplyDelete@kackerman: i think the use of spanish adds authenticity to the story. the character is from mexico and using spanish interspersed with english is a very common thing for people trying to learn/speak a different language. I dont think it alienates the reader simply because he discribes in english so well what mercados are and the word is also a cognate.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how all these kids from foreign countries came together in a school in the US and they had to learn how to respect each other and help one another out despite their cultural differences.
ReplyDeletecvonjonack i dont think there is a wrong way to blog
ReplyDeleteI believe the use of Spanish makes the story more interesting. It really just makes us more familiar with the character and it makes us understand him more: this is where he came from, this is where he is now, it's a change.
ReplyDeleteI think that the school is somewhat of a cultural shock for the Barrio boy. he lived in mexico and now he is thrust into a school with slovakians and japanese stdudents. However he seems to enjoy this more and quicly adaptss and even begins to enjoy America because of his new multicultuaral friends.
ReplyDeleteI thought the author did a really good job at the beginning describing the differences between his life that he had in Mexico and his new life he had when he moved to America. Like the differences in something as little as how the two countries bought food. For them it was normal to just have pile after pile of fruits and vegetables on the floor, where as here in the US, you see piles of fruits on the ground and you freak out immediately, assuming they have some sort of disease.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he necessarily absorbs things better because he is a kid, but I think he has a different perspective on things than adults or even teenagers would. He may learn things more quickly and even change a little faster than an adult but thats just because kids do change and learn faster.
ReplyDeletein the story Barrio boy i noticed how much the world is culturally diverse.in the story there was many comparisons from Mexico to America.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really cool that they added Spanish words into the story because it gave the reader a sense of what the boy felt like.
ReplyDeleteI think Anna's right that he might absorb this new lifestyle very well because he is a child and probably very eager to learn about the new world
ReplyDeleteI agree with phoebe. This summer I read Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns and in these the author used language from Afghanistan. It enhances the story and I enjoy learning random bits of info.
ReplyDeleteAlex and Frank, I think you both do well to touch on the universal nature of this piece: a pride in previous heritage but a willingness to accept and adjust to his new surroundings. I expect most of us have felt this struggle.
ReplyDeletei agree with alot of people i think he does not want to let go of mexico and how things were but i also think he is intelegent and will work to adapt and try to make it his new normal
ReplyDeleteI think by moving to such a culturally diverse school, Ernesto is somewhat forced to learn how the real world works and how to accept people for who they are because no one is the same and i think he learned a lot of valuable life lessons
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story i really respected Ernesto and came to believe in him. He pulled me into his world, and what it felt like to be an outsider. I would be terrified and i thii=nk that he handled it so bravely. I dont think i would have been able to.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, Mrs. Ackerman. I have had experience with that, the 'story truth," with writing, since I'd say, fifth grade. When you don't remember everything about an experience, it's interesting to reflect and think back about what did it look like, and how did you react?
ReplyDelete