Maria


 * __**My favorite poetic device in literature is**__...from the //Bluest Eye//. "And they took the ugliness in their hands, threw it as a mantle over them, and went about the world with it." I like how the ugliness is personified to be seen as a thing, sort of like a a gift and burden.
 * __**My favorite characterization in literature is**__... from //House on Mango Street//. "Alica, who inherited her mama's rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and stuides for the first time at the university. Two trains and a bus, because she doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin." I like how Alice is portry, she is an responsible girl who is taking the roll of a mother and wants to be independent. She is working hard for a better life.
 * __**My favorite quote in literature is**__... //The Chronicles of a Death Foretold//. " Love can be learned too." Athough this a simple and short quote is shows a lot about the view of love. Love is not seen special but as a simple thing people can learn without difficult. Instead of being viewed as special it is a matter to be learned.
 * __**My favorite dialogue in literature is**__...from the //Kite Runner//. " If you asked, I would,” he finally said, looking right at me… “But I wonder …would you ever ask me to do such a thing Amir agha?” I wished I had not started this conversation. I forced a smile. “Don’t be stupid, Hassan. You know I wouldn’t.” I like this dialogue between Amir and Hassan because it shows their loyalty. Hassan truly has loyalty but Amir on the other hand acts more like a bully then a true friend.
 * __**My favorite theme in literature is**__...My favorite theme was in //Great Gatsby.// The "dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it." I liked that it touch the subject of unrealistic dreams, which I believe we all have. Iit made Gatsby unrealistic dream seem realistic, adding more meaning to the theme.


 * __**My favorite poetic device of my own is...**__"While my salivary glands are the fireman in combat." I liked how I compared the feeling in ones mouth to a fireman who is fighting the fire.
 * __**My favorite characterization of my own is...**__"She looked around uneasy, and continued moving a little faster into the shadows. Pressing her fingers on the pocket, she was smile to know the coolness of the metal was still there. She stopped again to glaze around and hearing nothing she went forth." I think the characterization of the girl is clear and the reader can infrence a lot about her.
 * __**A setting I would write about is...**__In a big family, and how ones family shapes one and the importance of having their support. I would like to show how its great but is hard at the same time.
 * __**A conflict I would write about is...**__the confilict going on in Mexico and how the childern are greatly affected negativly. The children will have a dim future if the war keeps on affecting them in a negative way.
 * __**A theme I would like to address is...**__ How people should be themselfs and not follow society. Now a day it seems people are brain washed by society and no longer have a mind of their own.

Short story:

“What are you going to do in college?” My mother would say, “Its time you decide.” “I don’t want to make a choice yet, I don’t know what I want.” With a sigh, I would constantly tell my family, especially my parents, when they would ask about my future. The college letters kept piling up and their deadlines approaching quickly. If I thought about what I wanted to do, I began to have a headache get cranky and confused. Remembering my childhood, never had I felt this feeling before. Everything was perfect… well, at least in my eyes. How much I wished I was twelve years younger and careless, I didn’t want to get any older. Not only did things seem to become complex but as I became older so did my parents. Father could no longer play basketball with me and mom had lost much of her speed, and they were always tried. One thing was for sure though, I thought, I was not dorming at college. I wanted to help my parents as much as possible and I loved spending time with them. Anyways, in the Mexican culture it was not a custom for the women to leave their homes, unless she was to be married. The fact that most seniors I knew were leaving their homes did not upset me. I had learned to brush such things off my mind into my own pile of oblivion. The only thing I envied was that the most of them, at least they said so, knew what they wanted to do. My career path was split into two very different roads. Should I get my bachelor’s in my favorite hobby, or should I add an additonal four years to my education. So many memories in the kitchen, “Ana get this, Ana watch carefully, Ana what a delicious meal you have prepared.” My mother would say as she either criticize or praise my work. Cooking had become a hobby to forget myself, to create a pretty plate or a scrumptious smell. When I told her I wanted to become a chef, I watched in shocked as the unending smile of her face disappeared in her freckles. “A woman’s job is already in the kitchen once married, you want to spend your whole life cooking?” She said with confusion. I took a while to reflect, and she was right. Ever since I remember she would be rushing to make sure the family always had a home cooked meal. She would not leave the kitchen until she had food on the table, putting her life aside. However, her last remark really questioned my decision. “Well Ana, if that’s what you want but just remember that people won’t appreciate you. You work hard day in day out and people will not see that, trust me.” I thought about my second career path, which was to study in the medical field. Seeing my eldest sister become a doctor, I knew eight years full of long nights would await me. The choices that had to be made frequently occupied my mind and when I would see myself becoming anxious I would quickly turned my focus on something else. Since a child I was taught to pray for guidance and now that I found myself faced with choices that would determine my future, I turned to prayer once again. Daily, I would tell God to give me a sign so I would not screw up my life, and one day I saw the sign that I had longed for. It had not been the sign I expected but sure enough it was a sign. My sister, Rosa, had been feeling sick for quite a while and had gone to several doctors just to be told that she was perfectly fine. Finally my eldest sister recommended visiting a doctor whom she knew. Following the suggestion, Rosa went and shortly received the devastating news, what she had seemed like a tumor. When the news hit the family it was as if a tornado had struck home. However, during the second visit to confirm the horrible news the whole family half expected the diagnosis to be a mistake. That was not the case, there was no ordinary tumor; there was cancerous tumor. The family was in the kitchen silently sitting and sobbing. Ana more than anyone. “I went to three different doctors and all of them missed my cancer.” She would say in between the tears. After the news, the operations were scheduled promptly in order to halt the cancer. During that time the family members took turns calling off work, taking care of the younger siblings and making sure the house was not falling apart. It is said time heals everything and in some sense it is true. Ana’s cancer was eliminated but the memory was still vivid. Because some doctors were careless, it cost a young women’s tumor to grow into cancer. My sister life was put on the line and I would never forget why. Because Ana was treated as a dollar sign instead of a person. After the tragic event in my family I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Eight years of long nights would await me, but if I can save a family all the pain my family went through, those coffee nights will be well worth it.

Reflection: I tried to use a few literate devices, like alliteration and simile, to make my writing more interesting. I liked the way //House on Mango Street// was written since the reader feels like the author is talking to him or her directly. I tried to also make it seem like I was taking to the reader as well by using ‘I’. Using I makes it seem like you're with a friend gossiping.