Many Immigrant Students Like Same Asignment

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these two pieces.

You mention theme in your post. What would you say the theme of these two pieces are? Is theme typically clear and easy to determine in memoir? Why or why not?

I would like you to answer this question for me

This week we read two memoirs one by Sandra Cisneros and another one by Gary Shteyngart. Cisneros writes about her experience growing up in a Mexican-American household with 6 brothers, her father who was happy she went to college and devoted time to her education only saw her as becoming someone’s wife, it wasn’t until much later in her writing career, when she got one of her stories translated, that her dad showed to be proud of her and content with her accomplishments. On the other hand, Gary Shteyngart writes about an experience he had taken a vacation with his family to Florida, Gary had always wanted to go to Florida and now he had the chance but it did not turn out to be what he expected instead of staying in some fancy hotel in Miami his family decided to stay in a city close to Miami and in a motel, to Gary’s family eating at McDonalds was for the rich, so his family decided to bring their own food in to the restaurant, mad about this Gary decided to sit at his own table and was about to buy a burger for himself just to find out that he, like his parents ended up saving the money and not buying anything.

The three main elements we see in these memoirs are the use of a specific event in their lives, the appeal to ethos and pathos and that they give meaning to this event. In my opinion, they implement these elements well because they turn everyday scenarios into something moving and influencing to the reader. Cisneros uses her experiences to relate to all other females growing up in a patriarchal household and provides an example of how doing what you really like and not what is expected of you is one of the most gratifying things you can do in life. Shteyngart uses his event to demonstrate how we grow up to be just like those to raise us, even if his family came to the U.S.A as immigrants, even if he lost his accent, there are somethings we never lose and those are the values instilled in us since we are kids by our parents. I plan to use both pieces when preparing to write my own memoir as I think they both do a great job in conveying their message across but in distinct ways. I think I might try and use examples that hit close to home like Cisneros did and appeal to the reader’s emotion, especially since we are close to the border and I imagine there is many immigrant students like myself who had to endure leaving their families for a better opportunity.

and I need a comment on this also