Download or read book The Latin Deli written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reviewing her novel, The Line of the Sun, the New York Times Book Review hailed Judith Ortiz Cofer as "a writer of authentic gifts, with a genuine and important story to tell." Those gifts are on abundant display in The Latin Deli, an evocative collection of poetry, personal essays, and short fiction in which the dominant subject—the lives of Puerto Ricans in a New Jersey barrio—is drawn from the author's own childhood. Following the directive of Emily Dickinson to "tell all the Truth but tell it slant," Cofer approaches her material from a variety of angles. An acute yearning for a distant homeland is the poignant theme of the title poem, which opens the collection. Cofer's lines introduce us "to a woman of no-age" presiding over a small store whose wares—Bustelo coffee, jamon y queso, "green plantains hanging in stalks like votive offerings"—must satisfy, however imperfectly, the needs and hungers of those who have left the islands for the urban Northeast. Similarly affecting is the short story "Nada," in which a mother's grief over a son killed in Vietnam gradually consumes her. Refusing the medals and flag proferred by the government ("Tell the Mr. President of the United States what I say: No, gracias."), as well as the consolations of her neighbors in El Building, the woman begins to give away all her possessions The narrator, upon hearing the woman say "nada," reflects, "I tell you, that word is like a drain that sucks everything down." As rooted as they are in a particular immigrant experience, Cofer's writings are also rich in universal themes, especially those involving the pains, confusions, and wonders of growing up. While set in the barrio, the essays "American History," "Not for Sale," and "The Paterson Public Library" deal with concerns that could be those of any sensitive young woman coming of age in America: romantic attachments, relations with parents and peers, the search for knowledge. And in poems such as "The Life of an Echo" and "The Purpose of Nuns," Cofer offers eloquent ruminations on the mystery of desire and the conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Cofer's ambitions as a writer are perhaps stated most explicitly in the essay "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria." Recalling one of her early poems, she notes how its message is still her mission: to transcend the limitations of language, to connect "through the human-to-human channel of art."
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Cofer s The Latin Deli An Ars Poetica written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on 2016 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Study Guide for Judith Cofer's "The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.
Download or read book Silent Dancing written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by Arte Publico Press. This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Silent Dancing is a personal narrative made up of Judith Ortiz CoferÍs recollections of the bilingual-bicultural childhood which forged her personality as a writer and artist. The daughter of a Navy man, Ortiz Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and spent her childhood shuttling between the small island of her birth and New Jersey. In fluid, clear, incisive prose, as well as in the poems she includes to highlight the major themes, Ortiz Cofer has added an important chapter to autobiography, Hispanic American Creativity and womenÍs literature. Silent Dancing has been awarded the 1991 PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonfiction and has been selected for The New York Public LibraryÍs 1991 Best Books for the Teen Age.
Download or read book An Island Like You written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Judith Ortiz Cofer's Pura Belpre award-winning collection of short stories about life in the barrio! Rita is exiled to Puerto Rico for a summer with her grandparents after her parents catch her with a boy. Luis sits atop a six-foot mountain of hubcaps in his father's junkyard, working off a sentence for breaking and entering. Sandra tries to reconcile her looks to the conventional Latino notion of beauty. And Arturo, different from his macho classmates, fantasizes about escaping his community. They are the teenagers of the barrio -- and this is their world.
Download or read book The Line of the Sun written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A colorful, revealing portrait of Puerto Rican culture and domestic relationship” from the award-winning poet and author of An Island Like You (Publishers Weekly). Set in the 1950s and 1960s, The Line of the Sun moves from a rural Puerto Rican village to a tough immigrant housing project in New Jersey, telling the story of a Hispanic family’s struggle to become part of a new culture without relinquishing the old. At the story’s center is Guzmán, an almost mythic figure whose adventures and exile, salvation and return leave him a broken man but preserve his place in the heart and imagination of his niece, who is his secret biographer. “Cofer . . . reveals herself to be a prose writer of evocatively lyrical authority, a novelist of historical compass and sensitivity . . . One recognizes in the rich weave and vigorous elegance of the language of The Line of the Sun a writer of authentic gifts, with a genuine and important story to tell.”—The New York Times Book Review “There is great strength in the way Cofer evokes the fierce, loving, and brave Latin spirit that is the novel’s real theme.”—Joyce Johnson, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author “The Line of the Sun reads like a dream, from the beautifully realized description of the deceptive Paradise Lost, to the utterly different but equally vivid world of the urban North . . . This is a splendid first novel.”—The State (Columbia, South Carolina) “The writing in this superb novel stuns and surprises at every turn. Its sensuality and imagery . . . are riveting.”—The San Juan Star
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Ortiz Cofer s American History written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Ortiz Cofer s Hour with Abuelo written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Study Guide for Judith Ortiz Cofer's "Hour with Abuelo," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
Download or read book U S Latino Literature written by Margarite Fernandez Olmos and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-09-30 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past ten years, literature by U.S. Latinos has gained an extraordinary public currency and has engendered a great deal of interest among educators. Because of the increase in numbers of Latinos in their classrooms, teachers have recognized the benefits of including works by such important writers as Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, and Rudolfo Anaya in the curriculum. Without a guide, introducing courses on U.S. Latino literature or integrating individual works into the general courses on American Literature can be difficult for the uninitiated. While some critical sources for students and teachers are available, none are dedicated exclusively to this important body of writing. To fill the gap, the editors of this volume commissioned prominent scholars in the field to write 18 essays that focus on using U.S. Latino literature in the classroom. The selection of the subject texts was developed in conjunction with secondary school teachers who took part in the editors' course. This resultant volume focuses on major works that are appropriate for high school and undergraduate study including Judith Ortiz Cofer's The Latin Deli, Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets, and Cisneros' The House on Mango Street. Each chapter in this Critical Guide provides pertinent biographical background on the author as well as contextual information that aids in understanding the literary and cultural significance of the work. The most valuable component of the critical essays, the Analysis of Themes and Forms, helps the reader understand the thematic concerns raised by the work, particularly the recurring issues of language expression and cultural identity, assimilation, and intergenerational conflicts. Each essay is followed by specific suggestions for teaching the work with topics for classroom discussion. Further enhancing the value of this work as a teaching tool are the selected bibliographies of criticism, further reading, and other related sources that complete each chapter. Teachers will also find a Sample Course Outline of U.S. Latino Literature which serves as guide for developing a course on this important subject.
Download or read book Woman in Front of the Sun written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of essays woven with poems and folklore, Judith Ortiz Cofer tells the story of how she became a poet and writer and explores her love of words, her discovery of the magic of language, and her struggle to carve out time to practice her art. A native of Puerto Rico, Cofer came to the mainland as a child. Torn between two cultures and two languages, she learned early the power of words and how to wield them. She discovered her love for the subtleties, sounds, and rhythms of the written word when a Roman Catholic nun and teacher bent on changing traditions for the better gave her books of high literature to read, some of which were forbidden by the church. Later, as an adult, demands from her family and her profession made it difficult for Cofer to find time to devote to her art, but her need and determination to express herself led to solutions that can help all artists challenged with the limits of time. Cofer recalls the family cuentos, or stories, that inspire her and shows how they speak to all artists, all women, all people. She encourages her readers to insist on the right to be themselves and to pursue their passions. A book that entertains, instructs, and enthralls, Woman in Front of the Sun will be invaluable to students of poetry and creative nonfiction and will be a staple in every creative writing classroom as well as an inspiration to all those who write.
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Oritz Cofer s Aunty Misery written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Riding Low on the Streets Gold Latino Literature for Young Adults written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by Arte Publico Press. This book was released on 2003-10-31 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There seemed to be no way out of the custom. Her arguments were always the same and always turned into pleas. 'But, Ama', it's embarrassing. I'm too old for that. I'm an adult, '" Naomi says in Helena Maria Viramontes' story Growing. Ever since Naomi hit high school and puberty, she began to notice that there were too many expectations, and no one instructed her on how to fulfill them." In her tradition-bound family and under the thundering gaze of her father, Naomi struggles to stretch the limitations imposed on her by her family, even as her mind expands along with her changing body. Like Growing, the pieces in this anthology for young adults reveal the struggles of discovering a new self and the trials of leaving behind an old one. This extraordinary collection gathers a wealth of stories and poems that explore the challenges of negotiating identity and relationships with others, struggling with authority, learning to love oneself and challenging the roles society demands of teenagers and adults. Edited by well-known poet and prose-writer Judith Ortiz Cofer, the collection includes work by such leading Latino writers as Pat Mora, Jesus Salvador Trevino, Tomas Rivera, Virgil Suarez, Jose Marti, Viramontes and Ortiz Cofer herself. Included as well are new voices that represent the freshness and vigor of youth: Mike Padilla, Daniel Chacon, and Sarah Cortez. For many students across the United States, this text will serve as their first rewarding introduction to diverse writers of Latino/Latina literature. This beautiful collection gathers a wealth of stories and poems that are studded with the challenges of negotiating identity and learning to love the bodies and worlds in which young adults find themselves. Edited by well-known poet and prose writer Judith Ortiz Cofer, the collection includes work by Pat Mora, Nicholasa Mohr, Tomas Rivera, and Virgil Suarez.
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Ortiz Cofer s My Father in the Navy written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on 2016 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Study Guide for Judith Ortiz Cofer s Bad Influence written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on 2016 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Cruel Country written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2015-03-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I am learning the alchemy of grief—how it must be carefully measured and doled out, inflicted—but I have not yet mastered this art,” writes Judith Ortiz Cofer in The Cruel Country. This richly textured, deeply moving, and lyrical memoir centers on Cofer's return to her native Puerto Rico after her mother has been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. Cofer's work has always drawn strength from her life's contradictions and dualities, such as the necessities and demands of both English and Spanish, her travels between and within various mainland and island subcultures, and the challenges of being a Latina living in the U.S. South. Interlaced with these far-from-common tensions are dualities we all share: our lives as both sacred and profane, our negotiation of both child and adult roles, our desires to be the person who belongs and also the person who is different. What we discover in The Cruel Country is how much Cofer has heretofore held back in her vivid and compelling writing. This journey to her mother's deathbed has released her to tell the truth within the truth. She arrives at her mother's bedside as a daughter overcome by grief, but she navigates this cruel country as a writer—an acute observer of detail, a relentless and insistent questioner.
Download or read book A Love Story Beginning in Spanish written by Judith Ortiz Cofer and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Semi-autobiographical poems in English about life as a Cuban American, women's experiences, and related topics explore the role of language in identity.
Download or read book Italian Cuisine written by Alberto Capatti and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2003-09-17 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Italy, the country with a hundred cities and a thousand bell towers, is also the country with a hundred cuisines and a thousand recipes. Its great variety of culinary practices reflects a history long dominated by regionalism and political division, and has led to the common conception of Italian food as a mosaic of regional customs rather than a single tradition. Nonetheless, this magnificent new book demonstrates the development of a distinctive, unified culinary tradition throughout the Italian peninsula. Alberto Capatti and Massimo Montanari uncover a network of culinary customs, food lore, and cooking practices, dating back as far as the Middle Ages, that are identifiably Italian: o Italians used forks 300 years before other Europeans, possibly because they were needed to handle pasta, which is slippery and dangerously hot. o Italians invented the practice of chilling drinks and may have invented ice cream. o Italian culinary practice influenced the rest of Europe to place more emphasis on vegetables and less on meat. o Salad was a distinctive aspect of the Italian meal as early as the sixteenth century. The authors focus on culinary developments in the late medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras, aided by a wealth of cookbooks produced throughout the early modern period. They show how Italy's culinary identities emerged over the course of the centuries through an exchange of information and techniques among geographical regions and social classes. Though temporally, spatially, and socially diverse, these cuisines refer to a common experience that can be described as Italian. Thematically organized around key issues in culinary history and beautifully illustrated, Italian Cuisine is a rich history of the ingredients, dishes, techniques, and social customs behind the Italian food we know and love today.
Download or read book A Study Guide for Alice Hoffman s Saint Helene written by Gale, Cengage Learning and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Study Guide for Alice Hoffman 's "Saint Helene," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
