Dutiful Hijas

The way that Martinez describes the hispanic, Puerto Rican culture in "Dutiful Hijas" is nothing but the truth. The cultural tradition that strikes me the most is the idea of the Marianismo. The Maranismo acts as set of guidelines that Spanish woman would follow. It states that “it is a woman’s duty to be subservient and submissive, not to make decisions for herself.” In my family, this idea has some truth to it. Although my mother is the one who provides in my family, she also plays the role of a mother and she always puts her children's lives before her own. When I first read the story, I perceived the idea as disrespect to women. The idea basically gives the women no rights and allows her only to act as a maid. In my family, the Spanish culture taught me to respect women and they should be put on a throne.

Coraline: The Difference Between Graphics and Novels

The Coraline text was presented to us in both the novel form, and the graphic novel form. Personally, I enjoyed the graphic novel medium because it was such a weird text. The images definitely helped me to understand the text because it is written in such a way where you cannot place the characters in your own imagination. The images also show the difference between light and dark within the texts, when Coraline is living her normal but "boring" life, and when she was living in her "behind the closed door" life. I would really love to read the full version of the text, but in the graphic novel version. Graphics and illustrations really give the reader an upper hand in critically analyzing the text.