Assignment Five

  I think that Sofia unfortunately has developed a negative identity based off of one even in her life---when she went to Colombia to meet her boyfriend and her relationship failed, and having sexual relations with a random male that she met among the premisses. Once her father, Carlos, found out, his temper, which is known for being short, couldn't contain itself any longer. He bellowed in anguish considering he lived his life to raise these children to be respectful, young women, both to themselves and others. This one event in Sofia's life paved the way for a tremendously stressful relationship between the father and daughter. Carlos allowed this one mistake, as he saw it, to determine Sofia's identity, as well as their relationship. And though, she ended up marrying the man she met after her failed relationship, her father still let it define her.

   An amazing example of a positive happening in How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents would be when the Garcia family moved to the suburbs from their old apartment. During the time in which they lived in their old apartment, there was an evil old lady that seemed to be extremely prejudiced and racist towards Dominican Republicans in particularly. They didn't feel comfortable in the environment. Once they moved, however, they fit in well with the environment and didn't receive harsh judgment by others, at least not as harsh as the old lady's words. Also, because of the move, the kids entered a new school. It was especially positive for Yolanda, who received special treatment from her teacher. Her teacher taught everyone to pronounce her name correctly with the accent, and showed Yolanda that she shouldn't be ashamed of her Dominican Republic culture.

 I think that the hype about Jeremy Lin may come from the fact that he is indeed Asian, and it's unusual in the NBA for there to be Asian players. It shows that sports aren't all about race, at all. Jeremy Lin and his growing popularity can change the mindset of some people who have stereotypes. Jeremy Lin has become so famous, mainly because he's an Asian in the NBA, that a spin off of his last name was created--Linsanity. I'm happy for Lin that he's getting credit for his basketball, but I do ask myself if he's getting more credit because he's a great player or because he's Asian. I do feel that maybe some players aren't getting attention from the media, even if they're great, because they're "the norm" race of basketball.