Sunday, November 4, 2007

Becoming...

In reading Becoming Naomi Leon, I tried to keep in mind how Spanish worked within the text as was discussed the Barrera and Quiroa article. For the beginning, the main character's identity was not tied to being a Latina, but instead as a quiet being. I enjoyed how Ryan tracked the development of Naomi with her increased usage and knowledge of Spanish as it was the intent of the story to show identity with self awareness. Naomi discovered her father and his Mexican roots and therefor, the usage of her Spanish mirrors her acclimation into the familial basis of Spanish and Mexican family values.
Throughout Becoming Naomi Leon, Ryan does not, in my reading of the text, make disengaged Spanish language additives, but instead the words work within the text to deepen the story line of Naomi finding her father and herself as she, Owen and her great grandmother travel through Mexico and its family-based culture. As it was discussed in the Barrera and Quiroa article, Ryan was able to integrate Spanish into the English text in a meaningful way that illustrated the cultural ties of the words and as a way of expressing an event that only occurs within a Spanish-based culture.
Ultimately, I feel that Becoming Naomi Leon functioned as a good story of a teenage girl trying to find her place in a word that she feels that looks without seeing and as the tale of a Latina girl connecting with her roots as she finds her father in Mexico and gains an understanding of the cultural importance of family.

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