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Week 2-Snow by Julia Alvarez

Snow by Julia Alvarez

The main idea of Snow by Julia Alvarez is that human beings tend to easily get caught up in the issues that are going on in society that they forget about the little things that matter the most. The story is about a young girl who has immigrated to New York. In school, the teachers are always teaching them about the way set to take place against communists. The first time Yolanda sees snow, she thinks it is a bomb. The audience of this article is teachers, parents, and young children. The text aims to show that children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood and that irrespective of background, everybody is equal and unique. The article indicates that there is a possibility that Julia went through similar experiences as Yolanda growing up. She was probably misunderstood because of her background and, as a result, treated unequally. Education plays an important role in language because children learn new things if they are taught by other people or as a result of interactions with new knowledge. Language is the means by which people acquire new knowledge and, by extension, get educated.

Comparing Mother Tongue and Snow

From the articles Snow and Mother Tongue, I have gathered that both authors encountered differential treatment because of their background and the languages they spoke. Both authors are non-English native speakers and immigrated to a new environment at a young age. They struggled to get acceptance in their societies because they could not speak English properly because of mother-tongue interference. Their families were also instrumental in shaping their languages. Education helps improve language because as one gets educated, their vocabulary gets better (Tongue, 291). It is rare to find an educated person speaking broken English. In most cases, educated people have a great mastery of the English language. Although they might have an accent, it does not hinder them from communicating effectively.

About Julia Alvares’ and my Tan’s Professional Work

Born in 1950 in New York, Julia Alvarez’s parents went back to their native country, the Dominican Republic, shortly after her birth. However after ten years, they went back to the United States. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American essayist, poet, and novelist. She rose to fame with the novels Yo (1997), In the Time of Butterflies (1994), and How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents (1991). Alvarez has authored other novels, including Saving the World, The Other side, Homecoming and nonfiction books like A Wedding in Haiti and Something to Declare. Alvarez has won numerous awards include the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2013, the Hispanic Heritage Award, and the Pura Belpre awards. Amy Tan is a Chinese American novelist and writer. She has published a collection of children’s stories known as The Moon Lady (1992), The Opposite of Fate (2004) and The Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), which has since been converted to a television series. Any Tan has won many awards, including the Commonwealth Gold Award and nominated for the International Orange Award and the National Book Award.

Quotations

Quote 1: Alvarez writes, “As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them”( Alvarez, 21).

Paraphrase: Alvarez explained that being the only immigrant in the class, Sister Zoe strategically positioned her in the first row by the window so that she could tutor her separately without disturbing the rest of the class

Explanation: Here, Alvarez is trying to show the unequal treatment she received in school. Because she could not speak in proper English, the teachers took extra time with her to tutor her and help her improve her language, including pronunciation.

Quote 2: Alvarez writes, “But then Sister Zoe’s shocked look faded. ‘Why, Yolanda dear, that’s snow!’ she laughed.”

Paraphrase: The author explained that Sister Zoe was amused when she saw that Yolanda was referring to snow as a bomb

Explanation: Alvarez tries to show how as a child, Yolanda has been socialized to only think about the war from what Sister Zoe had taught them in class. As an immigrant, it was the first time Yolanda saw snow, and she thought it was a bomb. This shows the extent to which Yolanda was not aware of her immediate environment.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. “Snow.” Northwest Review 22.1 (1984): 21.

Tongue, Mother. “Amy Tan.” The World is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Culture and Its Contexts (2003): 291.