Catalina Gargollo Literary Engagements Blog

January 21, 2018 Dear Beli, How would you describe the experience and cultural norms growing up as a girl in the 50s and 60s in the Dominican Republic? Were there certain societal expectations that girls and young women had to fulfill or a certain similar outlook they all shared in this era? Based on what I read in the footnotes on page 87, I believe you would say that Dominican girls and young women all dreamed of being saved by a man who would enter their life like a Prince Charming, and they all yearned that he would make her his princess or queen. The footnote describes that Maria Montez "was the original J. Lo" (87), revealing that she was someone society worshipped and whose life they always dreamed to have. It seems that the society of the time instilled this idea in the minds of women: that once a Dominican girl finds her Mrs. Right, she will be truly happy. Maria served as the ideal female figure because she starred in many romantic films that had happy endings...

Diaz claims that the fuku enters a person's life at some point, and from that day, one's life changes. As Diaz illustrates it in the introduction, Columbus brought permanent a curse, or fuku upon the Dominicans when he landed in the Dominican Republic in his 1492 voyage: "Also called the fuku of the Admiral because the Admiral was both its midwife and one of its great European victims; despite 'discovering' the New World the Admiral died miserable..." (1), and it's not just "ancient history" (2). Diaz describes the fuku as something that enters once it happens, on one day just everything changes, and this case, the history of the colonialism in 'the Americas" marked the beginning of the fuku on the Dominican peoples. Diaz further emphasizes this when he notes the day Oscar is cursed: "It seemed to Oscar from the moment Maritza dumped him —Shazam!  —his life started going down the tubes. Over the next couple of years he grew fatter ...

It is more important the meaning the reader takes away from the words, the experience they receive from reading the text. As Hooks puts it, "Even if it was noted that we should give special attention to Langston Hughes’s work because he was writing about a world we knew intimately, we also knew that shared racial identity and even common experience would not lead one to produce great writing. To become a great writer one had to be able to move deep into experience, into emotion, into life. Dickinson’s field of vision made contemplation of metaphysics, of religion and nature the space where she experienced life to the fullest" (10). While personal experience can be valuable and enhancing, it is not always the key to great writing with powerful words. This is the importance of differentiating between the author and the speaker in literary analysis. Sometimes the identity of the speaker and the author are not always the same, though they can be. I agree with Hooks that knowing t...

One aspect of the course I am looking forward to is identifying the significance of the texts we will read. For example, one of the goals for this section, as described on page one of the syllabus, is to be able to make "meaning" based on our "own past knowledge and experience as it relates to what we read." This process of building schema is exciting to me because it will make the literature we read more engaging and interesting. Also, the opportunity to share personal experiences or references to modern day events will allow us to learn about ourselves and our peers. I feel that the texts we will read and the course overall will be a much more rewarding experience with this humanistic approach and cultural outlook to literary analysis because it provides a space for us to learn, grow, and share with one another. Another aspect of the course I am both and excited and nervous about is when we will read literature that contains controversial language. For instance,...