Quinceañera

1. Quinceañera By Judith Ortiz Cofer Presented By Kat Harvey

2. Quinceañera Showing the importance and formal style of the occasion. It is an important step in moving up in society. This new step in growing up means taking more responsibility. Some responsibilities are mundane but are permanent and should be given priority. My dolls have been put away like dead children in a chest I will carry With me when I marry. I reach under my skirt to feel a satin slip bought for this day. It is soft 5 as the inside of my thighs. My hair has been nailed back with my mother’s black hairpins to my skull. Her hands stretched my eyes open as she twisted braids into a tight circle at the nape 10 of my neck. I am to wash my own clothes and sheets from this day on, as if the fluids of my body were poison, as if the little trickle of blood I believe travels from my heart to the world were 15 Her lineage appears to have a negative influence in the world as a whole but she still has pride in who and what she is.

3. The Hispanic culture relies heavily on their religious pride. She takes pride in knowing what she believes in and stands by it. It is a part of her. She is realizing that this is merely one time in her life where she will be going through a stage of change. Each stage prepares her for the next just waiting to occur. shameful. Is not the blood of saints and men in battle beautiful? Do Christ’s hands not bleed into your eyes from His cross? At night I hear myself growing and wake to find my hands drifting of their own will 20 to soothe skin stretched tight over my bones. I am wound like the guts of a clock, waiting for each hour to release me. • Poetic Devices • Similes: comparing two ideas or concepts with the phrase “like” or “as” (i.e. “I am wound like the guts of a clock, waiting for each hour to release me.” to describe how she feels when referring to being prepared for each celebrated stage waiting to occur in her life.) • Metaphor: a word or phrase is being applied to something not literally related to the original topic, such as when she talks about being wound up like the inner workings of a clock. • Images: the author’s word choice displays some visual imagery in the importance of the occasion (i.e. the image of her hair being tightly pulled back, the soft silk slip under the extravagant dress she is wearing, etc.) • Allusion: there is an allusion to the occasion itself when she mentions the “slip bought for this day.”

4. Definitions • Quinceañera: a Hispanic celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday. It literally refers to the celebration of birthday girl becoming a woman in society • Chest: could literally refer to a Hope Chest that would be carried on with the bride when she marries • Nape: the back of the neck • Poison: in this use it would a person, idea, action, or situation that is considered to have a destructive or corrupting effect or influence • Blood: refers to a person’s lineage • Wound: turn repeatedly around and around

5. A young girl realizes she is quickly growing up as she is awaiting the time to celebrate her Quinceañera. She reflects on the extravagance of her dress which proves to her just how important the event is. It is an important formal occasion and her mother does her hair so she will look perfect for the celebration. She knows that this move up in society means she must take on certain responsibilities for herself but wonders if that means the lineage she holds close to her heart will be compromised. She knows she is Hispanic but is proud of it as well as what she believes. She reminisces on watching and feeling herself grow up but knows that each stage in her life is just one step closer to another stage in her life. Each one preparing her for the next. In my own words…

6. The LDS Perspective When I chose this poem I tried to think of how I was going to relate to it so I thought about what the LDS equivalent might be. The closest thing I could think of was the moving up from primary to Young Women/Young Men. When we turn 12 we are taught more complex aspects of the Gospel and are expected to take on certain responsibilities. For the Young Men it’s to pass and bless the sacrament and in the Young Women we are expected to complete the Personal Progress projects. Even within the family it seems we are treated different when we turn that age. We are expected to help more around the house and learn different tasks we may not have known before. However, we are still given the knowledge of who we are and what we believe. We also have other “moving up” stages, even in the church, throughout our lives.

7. Judith Ortiz Cofer • She was born in 1952 in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico • In 1956 she and her parents moved to the U.S. to live in New Jersey • She spent a good portion of her childhood living back and forth between New Jersey and Puerto Rico with her grandmother which then became a large part of what inspired her writing • She went to college at Augusta College in Georgia and graduated with an undergrad degree in English • In 1984 she started working as a faculty member at Georgia University where she is still a Regents and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing. • She still writes literature and continues to use the idea of trying to fit in while fighting to be proud of having a Hispanic lineage and living in the U.S.

8. Works Cited Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “Quinceañera.” Gioia, Dana and Kennedy, X.J. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York, NY, 2008. Page 500. “Judith Ortiz Cofer (b. 1952).” The New Georgia Encyclopedia. October 5, 2006. Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, and the Office of the Governor. February 6, 2009. <http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-488>.