Julie+How+the+Garcia+Girls+Lost+Their+Accent

==="Only a month ago, they had moved out of the city to a neighborhood on Long Island so that the girls could have a yard to play in, so Mami said. The little green squares around each look-alike house seemed more like carpeting that had to be kept clean than yards to play in. The trees were no taller than little Fifi. Carla thought yearningly of the lush grasses and thick-limbed, vine-ladened trees around the compound back home" (Alvarez 151). === ==   ==

Julia Alvarez


Alvarez was born in New York City in 1950. Her parents are both native Dominicans. When she was only three months old, her family moved to the Dominican Republic where she was raised until the age of ten. Alvarez' father was involved in the underground and they quickly escaped by heading back to the States.

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Ever since she was little, she was known for her storytelling. At first, the adults punished her for "telling lies". Those "lies" grew into interesting stories that almost everyone wanted to listen to. Later in her life, she realized how good she was at telling tales and decided to use her talent and become a teacher. She wanted to expand the minds of young authors. Alvarez mainly taught creative writing and traveled all across the country. In 1991, after more than twenty years of writing, she published her first novel, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent". The book was a hit and she continued to write. =====  =__<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; color: rgb(47, 167, 158)">About //How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents// __ = <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">This story tells about four sisters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia's journey on becoming true Americans and how they lost their roots along the way.

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> Carlos, the father was once a prominant doctor in the Dominican Republic. His involvement in an attempt to overthrow the Dominican dictator Generalissimo Trujillo forces the Garcia family to flee the country and head to the United States. =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> ===<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0)">"At home there were had always been a chauffeur opening a car door or a gardener tipping his hat and a half dozen maids and nursemaids acting as if the health and well-being of the de la Torre-Garcia children were of wide public concern. Of course, it was usually the de la Torre boys, not the girls, who came in for special consideration. Still, as bearers of the de la Torre name, the girls were made to feel important" (Alvarez 174). === <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" starts out with Carlos being upset with his daughter, Fifi for leaving the house to be with the man she loves. Fifi wishes for the family to be back together, so she invites everyone to come to her house for their father's seventieth birthday party.

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===<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(142, 0, 255)">"Even after they'd been married and had their own families and often couldn't make it for other occasions, the four daughters always came home for their father's birthday. They would gather together, without husbands, would-be husbands, or bring-home work. For this too was part of the tradition: the daughters came home alone. The apartment was too small for everyone, the father argued. Surely their husbands could spare them for one overnight?" (Alvarez 24). === <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Carla is the oldest and now a psychologist. When she was in elementary school, all her sisters had been enrolled at the neighborhood Catholic school only a block away from the Garcia household. When it was time to start school, Carla's grade was full and in order to stay at that school, she would have to be put down a grade. She didn't want this, so Carla begged her parents to let her attend public school. There, she was not accepted. <span style="color: rgb(2, 255, 0)">"Every day on the playground and in the halls of her new school, a gang of boys chased after her, calling her names, some of which she had heard before from the old lady neighbor in the apartment they had rented in the city. Out of sight of the nuns, the boys pelted Carla with stones, aiming them at her feet so there would be no bruises. 'Go back to where you came from, you dirty spic!'" (Alvarez 153).

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> Sandra, who's nickname is Sandi, is the second oldest and is an artist. She always had an opinion about everything and didn't let others change her mind about it.<span style="color: rgb(29, 247, 240)"> "Sandi studied the woman carefully. Why had Dr. Fanning, who was tall and somewhat handsome, married this plain, bucktoothed woman? Maybe she came from a good family, which back home was the reason men married plain, bucktoothed women. Maybe Mrs. Fanning came with all the jewelery she had on, and Dr. Fanning had been attracted by its glittering the way little fishes are if you wrap tinfoil on a string and dangle it in the shallows" (Alvarez 178).

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> Yolanda, who is also called Yoyo, is the third oldest and has a very strong personality. She is also a poet. <span style="color: rgb(253, 172, 38)">"In ninth grade, Yoyo was chosen by her English teacher, Sister Mary Joseph, to deliver the Teacher's Day address at the school assembly. Back in the Dominican Republic growing up, Yoyo had been a terrible student. No one could ever get her to sit down to a book. But in New York, she needed to settle somewhere, and since the natives were unfriendly, and the country inhospitable, she took root in the language. By high school, the nuns were reading her stories and compositions out loud in English class" (Alvarez 141).

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> Sofia, also known as Fifi, is the baby of the Garcia family. She is also the biggest rebel and always did her own thing. Fifi was the first daughter to leave home. When she was in Columbia on vacation, she met a German tourist named Otto on the street. <span style="color: rgb(194, 69, 232)">"The woman had not been without a boyfriend for more than a few days of her adult life. They fell in love" (Alvarez 29). Her father was furious at Fifi for choosing a man over her family.<span style="color: rgb(243, 57, 57)"> "For months no one could mention the daughter's name in his presence, though he kept calling them all "Sofia" and quickly correcting himself" (Alvarez 32).

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(20, 250, 243)"><span style="color: rgb(21, 25, 24)">Even though the Garcia Girls stood out because they were different, they made their transition to the United States work out in the long run. The support of their family helped them get through the rough times.

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">**<span style="color: rgb(0, 141, 255)">__What Worked__ **

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> The way Julia Alvarez wrote "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" made me want to keep reading it. By changing the character's point of view, the readers become intrigued as to what will happen next. =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(236, 34, 151)">**__What Didn't Work__**

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(255, 150, 0)">__**What Makes "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" Outstanding**__

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(20, 250, 243)"><span style="color: rgb(21, 25, 24)">This book is very unique. The plot of the story is backwards, going back in time, explaining how the events occurred. I would definitely recommend this book to girls in high school or college. Girls can relate to the characters, especially if they have a lot of siblings. The book focuses on family and love. =====

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====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(20, 250, 243)"><span style="color: rgb(21, 25, 24)"> <span style="color: rgb(51, 246, 255)"><span style="color: rgb(20, 250, 243)"><span style="color: rgb(96, 235, 222)"><span style="color: rgb(250, 248, 158)"><span style="color: rgb(19, 19, 16)"><span style="color: rgb(56, 245, 230)"><span style="color: rgb(55, 231, 241)"><span style="color: rgb(226, 34, 34)">__**Themes**__         ==== <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(92, 235, 112)">
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Families =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Friends and Enemies =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Generations =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Race, Ethnicity, and Culture =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Challenges and Triumphs =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">War and Peace =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">The Individual vs. Society =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">Love, Sex, and Romance =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"><span style="color: rgb(0, 160, 255)">__**Other Books by Julia Alvarez**__

 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"Homecoming" =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"In the Time of the Butterflies" =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"The Secret Footprints" =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"Something to Declare" =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"In the Name of Salome" =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif">"¡YO!" =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" __Wannabe Inkling__. 13 Jun 17. 26 Oct 08.[|<http://wannabeinkling.wordpress.com/2007/06/13/how-the-garcia-girls-lost-their-accents/>] =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> "Introduction" __Hispanic/Latino Fiction__. 17 Jun 03. 26 Oct 08.<[|http://www.lrc.salemstate.edu/bookcovers/howthegarciagirls.jpg>] =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> The College of Education. "Education Resources" __Book Review__. 2005. 26 Oct 08.[|<http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/book_reviews/book_reviews.php?book_id=53>] =====