First Year Seminar Essay #2 Professor Redding
Topic: Comparing and Contrasting the characters life in their home country to their life in America.
Using two stories “Otravida Otravez” and “Inverino” from the book “This is how you lose her” by Junot Diaz, Diaz explains the theme of Characters who come from a different country or region that moves to the United States for a better life.
In the first story “Otravida Otravez” from “This is how you lose her” by Junot Diaz, there are 3 main characters (Yasmin, Ramon, and Ana Iris) who all left their home country to come to America for a better life. All three characters are trying to fit into the new environment of America. “She was the one who took the first pictures that I mailed home, weak photos of me grinning, well …show more content…
Another one was in a bookstore, I’m pretending to read a book even though the book is in English” (64). Yasmin wants to show her mother that her being in America was a good choice, and showing her that she is fitting into America very well. “The truth is I am lucky to have a friend like Ana Iris she’s like my sister. Most of the people I know in the states have no friends here; They’re crowded together in apartments, they’re lonely, they’re worn. They’re cold. When I first reached the states, I was like that alone, living over a bar with nine other women” (62). Yasmin is explaining how she experienced life when she first arrived in America. “Otravida Otravez” explained how Yasmin, Ana Iris, and Ramon left their home country to go to America to experience a better life.
In the second story “Invierno” from “This is how you lose her” by Junot Diaz, Rafa and Yunior, and their mother move to New York to live with their father in his apartment. “Our apartment seemed huge to us Rafa