Evaluation:

In my opinion Julia Alvarez is extremely worthy of study for many reasons. She is a hardworking woman, who has been through many struggles and trials to get to where she is today. One could just give up when things get hard, but Julia did not. She knew that being a Latino writer was unheard of but she knew what she wanted and went after it. She is extremely passionate about her writing, and writing in general. Alvarez wants to encourage other writers to pursue their dreams as well. She is a down to earth poet, and writes poetry that readers are able to clearly understand and relate to. I really connected and enjoyed reading her poems. In Alvarez’s poem “Dusting” I really related to the last two lines. Like the girl in the poem my heart longs to be outgoing, and see the world. I wish to make a name for myself and make a difference. I also personally connected to Julia through my research. She and her husband reside in Vermont and spend their time farming an eleven acre farm. Here they grow many organic vegetables, and are very into sustainability when farming. This is something I am passionate about and was happy to hear.

The poem “Queens, 1963” also really stood out to me. It really hit me that immigrants who had been discriminated, and put out by Americans when they arrived, would do the same to new races and immigrants when they arrived in the states. They had been through that, knew that struggle and felt that pain. Why would they wish that and be the ones to cause it for someone else? The hypocrisy is unreal. What I took away from reading that is realizing that I never want to be that person. I never want to cause pain and pass judgment on a person or group of people just because they are different than me. Tying this into the next question, this thought was one that challenged me concerning my faith and worldview. It was really sad for me to read “Queens, 1963” and realize that there was this perfect “American mold” that society told the immigrants they had to fit into. How could they? This was just not feasible. So there they were feeling out of place and not good enough; not American enough. Truly there is no perfect American mold, and America is blessed to be such a beautiful mixing pot of many different diverse ethnicities. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28