I had a very good experience while reading Once Upon A Quinceañera by Julia Alvarez because I was really able to connect with the stories that Julia told, even though they were mostly about the Latino cultures. I feel that I made a very good choice of books because the novel I read was very informative and an eye opener to a whole other culture that I didn't know very much about before reading this book. I also think that I made a good decision because the book was interesting and very easy to follow.
Once Upon A Quinceañera is a story that enabled me to learn all about the Latino culture, and especially quinceaneras. A quinceanera is a celebration for Latina girls when they turn 15 in order to symbolize them becoming an adult and more mature. The celebration includes a ceremony and then a party, in which the father replaces his daughters flat shoes, with high-heels to show that she is now allowed to do more things like wear high-heeled shoes and wear make-up.
While reading this book, I wish I hadn't have spread my reading out so much in between the blog posts because sometimes it was difficult to fully remember what I had previously read for that posting. I think that writing blog posts in lieu of having meetings was beneficial to me because I was able to express more of my opinion in writing, however, with the meetings I was able to show more emotion about how I felt instead of having my group members just see the words.
Overall, I didn't have any major problems writing the blog posts or the comments, except for the fact that not all of my group members’ posts were completed on time, therefore I couldn’t comment on any of them. After literature circles were finished, I learned that even though you are reading the same book as someone else it can be interpreted in a whole different way.
In order to create my image, I first had to choose a topic that I though could relate to my book. At first I chose to do a cultural component, which ultimately is what it is, but I made it into a book cover to add more detail. In addition to detail, I also had to have my image connect with the book. One of the ways I did that was by portraying a very prominent topic from the novel. I chose to paint a dress because it represents quinceaneras. I paid close attention to the colors in order to reflect the changes Latino went through after becoming Americanized.
I think that after all of the minor changes I made, my painting turned out nicely. I was very satisfied with how it came out because of the neatness, but I wish that I could have enhanced it by making the colors more similar to the hues in my final sketch because the colors were very important. Reflecting on my novel with art really opened my eyes to see that art is a form of expression for almost anything and it can be used to represent or symbolized everything from a book to nature and much more.
The interview process for me went well at first and then became very difficult and frustrating. It was challenging contacting my immigrant because she would never answer her phone, and if she did then she was always busy and couldn’t talk. The first and second interviews went very well because she was very kind, however, she did not remember very much from her life in the Philippines which made it hard for me to get enough information. Even though I wasn't able to get as much information as I would have liked I still felt good about interviewing my immigrant and ask her questions, even though I called her each time and never emailed her or met with her in-person.
Because I didn't get a chance to do my third interview, I don't know as much about her immigration experience as others would. From the first interview I learned that she came here when she was just 13, my age, and also that the first thing that she noticed was different was the streets and how they were so much wider and smoother than the ones in the Philippines. During my second interview I learned that she first attended a school in San Diego that was made up of almost all Filipinos and Asians, which made it very easy for her and her brothers, who came here with her, to blend in.
Interviewing an immigrant helped me learn that immigrating was not as hard as it may seem for many people. When we study immigration we learn about all the hardships that people went through, when really only some people's journey was difficult. Making the image for my immigrant made me feel really good because I know that I was creating it for someone who has been through so much. Also being given the chance to make her something that will remind her of her new and old life also gave me a nice feeling. I am excited to see what she thinks of the image I painted for her.
In conclusion, I am very glad that I was able to learn about immigration and how it has affected so many lives in America and across the world today.
TKAM
16 years ago