Wow! As I sit down at my computer, like I do every Sunday night to write my blog, this evening I have a whole different thought process. It’s hard to believe that this semester is coming to a close, and this is the last blog we will write! I definitely feel like I’m writing this entry with a much different compilation of thoughts in comparison to the beginning of the year. I feel like throughout the semester, I expanded my knowledge on Chicano and Latin American literature as a whole. We read extensively diverse literature, although all of our books seemed to be linked together by similar themes. We saw the difficulties that Chicano’s and Latinos all over the world face, and the challenge with comes with assimilation into any society for someone of any race. I’ve decided to structure this blog by describing my favourite and least favourite books.

My favourite of all of our books for the semester, would coincidentally have to be that of my Wikipedia article: “How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents”. Throughout the book I fell in love with Julia Alvarez’s distinctive style and heartwarming stories. Not only did her stories convey a wide variety of emotions, but it was so pleasant to read and at the same time brought up some signifacnt themes. I almost feel like her book was full of life lessons, which we all can relate to in one way or another. I believe a few people on our class mentioned in their blogs that they could relate quite well to what she wrote.

My least favourite of all the books would probably have to be Woman Hollering Creek. Although I enjoyed it slightly, and a few of the stories made me laugh, I faced the challenge of truly not being able to connect with the book. I found it difficult to read and follow. Maybe this makes me lazy? I’m not sure. I can see women connecting with this book better than men perhaps. I definitely think there are tones of feminism in this book, which is perhaps why. I feel like although Cisneros had an interesting and intriguing writing style, I don’t really understand what she was trying to say with her stories. I could be harsh in saying this, but I just didn’t get this one.

Overall, I’m glad I read all of the books, and I don’t think any of them were a waste of time whatsoever. I enjoyed the different ideas and perspectives people would bring to our class discussions. I think we all made eachother realize and see different sides of the various literature, and I quite liked out debates and talks. Having Carmen Rodriguez come in and discuss her book was also a definite plus! Very inspiring to see an author in the flesh, especially someone so genuine, real and to the point. I have to say, I’ll miss this class! Perhaps not all the Wikipedia editing though…